


Your World Was Not Mine (Your Eyes Told Me So)

by Kryssa



Series: Five Years Later [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst but sort of soft, Burning so slowly that I am looking for a lighter to help it along, Confessions, Consensual Sex, Death, Emotional Baggage, Experimentation, F/M, Gen, Gym Challenges (Pokemon), Historical Research, If I'm not quietly crying while writing then I'm not doing it right, Introspection, Let me put it this way, Love Triangles, Manslaughter via Eternatus, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Platonic Relationships, Pokemon Adoption Day, Pokemon Death, Probably homicide but it won't hold up in court, Reconciliation, Romance, Science Fiction, Slow Burn, Songfic, Unrequited Love, rivals/friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2021-04-19
Packaged: 2021-04-25 17:48:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 91,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22324783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kryssa/pseuds/Kryssa
Summary: Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. Initially written to be a one-shot introspective piece on Sonia's complicated relationship with Leon that has since spiraled out of my control.Chapter 17: And then… it’s one day before the lab opens up to the new Trainers, and Sonia’s almost throwing herself around trying to get things in order.47 Challengers. She has one day to get them all their Pokémon. Oh man oh man oh man oh man!
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Sonia, Hop/Yuuri | Gloria, Kibana | Raihan/Sonia
Series: Five Years Later [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1606918
Comments: 173
Kudos: 274





	1. And You, My Love, Are Gone

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Pokémon franchise by any stretch of the imagination. Nor do I own the song 'The Chain' by Ingrid Michaelson, which serves as the emotional crux for this story. I highly recommend listening to it as often as you need.

When Sonia looks at Hop looking at Gloria, she realizes that she sees the past playing out in the future. Of the many things she knows, and she likes to think that she knows quite a bit more than she lets on, she is very much an expert on being in love with someone that the rest of the world loves too.

She wonders if there’s a way to spare Hop the experience from walking further down that road, but also knows that while some knowledge can be acquired in a purely theoretical fashion, there is some knowledge that can only be understood if it’s empirically gained. And while she may be his friend, and even Gloria’s, she is also his mentor and a scientist at her core. It is her job to help him learn, even if the lesson learned is going to hurt like a sonovabitch.

But she’s neither heartless or hopeless, though, and for the moment she lets them sit together on the sofa, drinking tea and talking about Pokémon with the joyful energy of young twenty-somes who are finally finding a place for themselves. If she tries hard enough, she can see the way the setting sunlight gives Gloria a halo of red hair and that shadows cast against Hop’s face and jaw make him look so heartbreakingly familiar.

Sonia never got the chance to sit with him like this, not since they were ten, and certainly never got to make his favorite tea or laugh about her Yamper’s latest antics or one of a million missed moments or just the chance to be friends _to be more_.

_Because he’s gone. Always gone._

The sky is starting to fade to black, and she can hear the wind fussing like a tired toddler through the trees outside. The sound shakes her out of her head, and she opens her mouth to warn Gloria that now would be a good time to get back to her mother’s house before the rain comes. And that Hop should head to his borrowed room upstairs, and Sonia can clean up and go to bed by herself and not have to watch them pine for each other the way they have for a painfully long time. She looks at her young friends and can only think _I know where this shall lead, but perhaps…._

So she decides to say nothing; just keeps sipping her tepid tea and puttering around the mansion while the duo bask in each other. The house feels so cold since Gran died a year ago, but she’s working on making it fit just right. It’s not until the rain starts falling in earnest that she finally returns to the sitting room.

“Gloria, where are you staying tonight?”

The young woman blinks at her, interrupted from her conversation, but quickly says, “I was going to head to Postwick in a bit.”

“Hmm, think again. The rain’s looking vicious, and I’d hate to have the Champion drown by accident.”

Both her and Hop look out the window, genuinely surprised by the change in weather; Sonia offers them a smile. “Let’s make some dinner and have ourselves a sleep-over.”

The relief in Hop’s eyes is gold-bright when Gloria finally agrees, and her and Sonia begin swapping recipes until they agree on meat pies and go to work. Two hours later, the three of them are contentedly sitting around the table, too full to take their plates and silverware to the sink. Sonia lets the duo do the bulk of the talking, though she is more than happy to answer a question or jump in if the subject is particularly thrilling, but really all she wants is the chance to enjoy their company without the weight of reality.

She wants to see Hop and Gloria happy, even though she knows (_gods, does she know_) that the combination of Professor and Champion is doomed to fail. She has lived that failure a dozen times over.

Finally, Sonia stands up and stretches. “Gloria, would you be a dear and feed Yamper and the others? Hop can help me with the washing up.”

Gloria is delighted to do it; she feeds Yamper, Dubwool, her Cinderace, and anyone else who has been freed from their pokéballs with a hearty serving of spicy sausage curry. They love it, and she coos and pets everyone as they eat. She looks so natural sitting in the middle of the “poke-pile”, pawprints on her dress and curry on her hands, that it’s almost jarring. Yesterday – literally – she was having a mock battle against both Bede and Marnie, wearing her Gloria-sized cape and Champion outfit like she was born to rule.

“She looks like a fuckin’ queen,” Hop had whispered as he watched the match, absolutely blind and deaf to the rest of the world, and Sonia could only agree and think about a man who looked like a king when he stood where she stood.

Kings and queens aren’t meant to be with those who don’t wear a crown, much less those who have failed to take it for themselves.

But at this very moment she looks like Gloria from Postwick, like Hop’s best friend of almost fifteen years, like she would like nothing more than to feed and play with Pokémon for the rest of her life. Sonia is willing to let her live the lie for one more day.

The kitchen is cleaned, Pokémon are groomed and cuddled and settled for the night, and Sonia is ready for bed now. She yawns and says, “I’ll see you two in the morning. Good night, loves.”

She doesn’t bother to tell Gloria where the guest rooms are; Hop will take care of her, one way or another. Sonia momentarily regrets letting this happen when she starts to hear some unambiguous noises floating down the hall as she’s crawling into bed an hour later. They’re attempting to be quiet, so that’s nice, but the real thorn in her side is that their efforts to happiness just grate on her. It’s as if her body is wrong, her room is wrong, her whole world is wrong because she shouldn’t be here by herself.

But that’s wrong too, because she’s always been alone. She’s never had the chance to get him into her room, much less her bed, and even with all the time they’ve spent together ever since the Rose Incident he treats her like a companion. A close one, yes… but it’s not enough. Probably will never be enough.

Sonia sighs and rolls over in bed, turning on some soft classical music from her Rotom Phone so she can fall asleep thinking of violins and flutes rather than dark hands she wants to hold and a chest so broad she could pitch a tent on it.

It doesn’t work. It never does.

♪♪♪

Sonia remembers the first time he broke a promise, and the first time she realized how far away he was drifting.

They had fought their final battle as rival trainers, and he won. He always won, but this was the end. He beat her in the semi-finals, and went on to become the youngest Champion in Galar history (even beating out a few other Champions from other regions, too). He had promised that they would always be friends, him and her. That no matter what happened, he would definitely come by to visit Wedgehurst as often as possible, and he wouldn’t stop being there for her if she needed him.

But when her grandfather died just a year later, her beloved Granda who first taught her about Pokémon battles, he couldn’t make it into town. Oh sure, Mr. and Mrs. Terrene came to offer their regards, but only a very young Hop trailed after them. Her grandmother seemed to take his absence in stride, nodding sagely about how ‘it’s just not possible for the Champion to drop his important work on such short notice’, but Sonia didn’t feel like that. She felt wounded, betrayed, absolutely destroyed _because he promised to be here if I needed him. Well, now I need him and he’s not here._

When she called him the night of Granda’s funeral, his youthful voice was deep with remorse and sorrow. “Sorry I wasn’t there. I wanted to come, but all day I’ve been busy with dumb stuff.“

“It’s fine. It’s… fine.”

“I’ll come by really soon. I promise!”

“… All right.” And when she hangs up the phone, she realizes that she had been crying through their whole conversation. It surprises her, which just makes her more angry later, that he never drops by.

So Sonia remembers the first time he broke a promise, and it doesn’t make her happy to know that she remembers more than that.

It takes two more months before he’s even in the area, and she has to go to Motostoke with her mum to see him. When she does, he drops down into the booth with a huge smile, and Sonia starts to hate the fact that she loves when he smiles.

“It’s great to see you! Sorry but my days are a big mess. Tell me what’s going on! How have you been?”

They talk like kids, like they just saw each other yesterday, and she wants to forgive him because he means so much to her and he must feel the same too, right? So they see each other sporadically, and Sonia finds that she keeps falling back in love with him. She wants to forgive him because he’s only 11, 12 and just a kid when it first starts but then he’s 18, 19, 20. No matter how much she tries, she never forgets that he just glides in and out of her life like he’s dancing on an oil slick.

When she turns twenty her parents throw a surprise birthday party, and it seems like the entirety of both Wedgehurst and Postwick were invited. She looks for him the whole time, trying not to be too distracted while talking with other people, but that red cape and black hat never appear. Later, when she casually asks her parents about it, they explain that he had indeed been invited and had even RSVP’d with a positive reply but he must have gotten busy or lost or sidetracked _I imagine being the Champion means going off the road from time to time_.

She gets a card from him two days later that she is tempted _so tempted_ to tear up and throw away because it shouldn’t mean anything. It is equal parts painful and infuriating to realize that she doesn’t really want to, that she wants to hold onto any little piece of him that has nothing to do with being the Champion and everything to do with being her best friend.

She starts dating a young man at her uni, and very purposefully loses her virginity to him. They stay together for longer than Sonia expects, but it doesn’t last. She dates here and there, but while she finds temporary joy with each new beau, she doesn’t find that warmth in the depth of her chest that he inspires with only a smile and a hug.

And in the midst of it all he continues to shine so brightly that it’s hard to look at him anymore, and Sonia tries to let go of all the little promises he makes and breaks like cheap wine glasses. Eventually she decides to put her heart in a pokéball and lock it up behind a door with chains made of her own unforgiving, unforgotten frustrations. They still talk and visit from time to time, but she is hyper-aware of the fact that he keeps moving forward and she is stagnant, uncertain and afraid of her future. Gran most certainly disapproves of her timidness and has hinted on more than one occasion that Sonia is bright enough to start working on the Dynamax conundrum and/or Galar’s history if she put her mind to it. Perhaps the old woman is right, but all Sonia can think about is that what she really wants to pursue is a dream long dead and a friend long gone.

It’s poetic and tragic and quite dramatic really, and her gran buys into absolutely none of it. So Sonia is brought into the lab, mentally kicking and screaming, only to discover that she is good at making sense of nonsensical historical matters, and her background as a Pokémon trainer helps round out the research on Dynamaxing. Her studies give her a purpose, makes her feel (almost) whole, so on the occasions when he does pop on by to ask a question or look something up, she can pretend that she’s happy just being his go-to-person-with-answers and doesn’t mind when he slides away like water off glass.

This is where they stand when Gloria and Hop are brought to the lab as bright-eyed teenagers ready to take on the Gym Challenges. She still falls into their comfortable banter and finds herself happy to watch the youngsters go through the same strides that she and he did (albeit a bit older, an amendment to the Gym Challenge rules that she approves of). But then the whole world starts to change, and she is running through the country like a madwoman and they stand together as things fall apart and are put back together, and she is suddenly a professor and Hop now works with her as he traverses his own educational journey and Gloria now bears the crown of the Champion and he… he is more alive than he’s been in almost twenty years.

And all those feelings she’s rid herself of are rushing back because he’s now in her life in a way he hasn’t been since she was ten, with the last few years being particularly trying on her self-control. Now he comes by almost monthly, still wearing red and looking so damn delicious she could eat him up, and has learned to bring sweets from Wyndon to soothe her prickly feelings before heading to his parents’ home.

He and Hop seem to have a better relationship, and she has caught them having deep conversations by the fireplace about things better left unheard. She has also been privy to their fights, which ranged from terse words to Pokémon battles all the way up to an actual throw-down brawl that ended with two black eyes, a ruined pitch, and zero sympathy from either herself or Gloria. Later, Hop admitted to Gloria that it was the first time he’d finally felt like he was his brother’s equal. The heat of the fight made him forget the hero worship or reflexive need to please his brother, and it was a liberating moment. Sonia is glad that there have been no further scraps since that time though she is ready to referee if another were to occur.

But the person he spends the most time with is Gloria, which makes sense of course. Sonia finds that she’s not jealous, especially since anyone with half a brain can see that Gloria’s eyes aren’t on that particular Terrene brother, nor does he treat her like anything but a talented protégé, but she is wistful.

For behind those chains, behind that door, inside that pokéball she’s hidden away is the wish that she could finally give him what she’s wanted to share all this time.

♪♪♪

Sonia is the first one awake the next morning, and doesn’t spend any time lazing in bed. She has something important in the lab to check on and spends only enough time setting on the kettle and toasting some bread before running out the door. She’d have fed the Pokémon too but decides to take advantage of her young friends and make them do it. A note on the table is all they need.

She makes it to the lab in plenty of time. She falls easily into her morning routine of reviewing vitals on the incubating eggs, adjusting the terrarium temperatures, checking the fluctuation levels of Dynamax spots in the country, and visiting the fax machine for any new requests.

Her heart starts to race when she sees the stack of forms sitting in the machine, and quickly pulls them into the office before slamming the door. She shuffles through the papers, a smile spreading on her face as she sees that they are exactly what she has been hoping to see for the past two weeks. A flower of pride blooms in her chest, and she finishes up one final chore before grabbing the stack and running back to the mansion.

When she throws the door open, banging it against the wall and making Yamper jump up from a dead sleep, both Hop and Gloria are already sitting at the dining table eating breakfast. They look tired but have indeed fed all the Pokémon.

“You’re back awfully quickly,” Hop says. “Sorry for the late start. I’ll be at the lab in twenty minutes.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ve got some phenomenal news to share.”

Gloria perks up. “Oh? A new Pokémon species?”

“Your editor has finished reading your second draft?” Hop guesses.

“No to both,” and she triumphantly holds the cover letter in front of her apprentice. “Hop, you’ve been accepted into the DPM program from Unova!”

He shoots up out of the chair so fast it falls down and almost whacks Dubwool on the horn. He takes the paper and stares at it like he’s looking at a newborn. “What… you mean I got it?” he whispers.

“Not just that. It looks like your proposal for the dual degree was accepted, too! You can complete the PhD with Professor Oak while training at the Unova School of Poke-Medicine! All these papers here,” and she drops the folder on the table, “are the forms you need to fill out once you’ve accepted the position, and to get your international passport.”

He finally reads the paper, and it hits him so hard that his expression crumples. “I did it,” he says again, then buries his face in his hand.

A tug at her sleeve, and she sees Gloria with an expression of concerned bemusement. “Hop mentioned that he wanted to be a professor, but what’s all this?”

Sonia is well aware that Hop has not been completely forthcoming about his life goals with Gloria, though she is certain such omissions are motivated by fear and not maliciousness. After last night, she’s willing to bet that they each have full intention of changing that relationship to one of complete transparency.

_Had_ full intention, now. Sonia hates that she’s clairvoyant about doomed romances.

While it should be Hop’s job to enlighten his not-quite-girlfriend, she explains the basics. “A DPM is a Doctorate in Pokémon Medicine, while his intended PhD is in Human-Pokémon Public Health Sciences. Hop came up with the idea to essentially become an expert in Pokémon health who can not only provide medical assistance to wild Pokémon, but also work as part of the public health department and stand on the front line in case of emerging health threats to both humans and Pokémon. Think of a scout or a vanguard in an army – when there’s a new problem, someone has to go and find out what’s going on and communicate his findings to the rest of the world. That would be Hop – running around, searching for answers.”

“That… it sounds very important.”

“As far as I know, no one else has a niche quite like this. Given the issues that occur when Dynamax and Mega Evolution go wrong – to say nothing of the corporations who are abusing Pokémon like the bastards they are – his job could involve a great deal of battling and protecting people as much as healing and helping those in need.”

Gloria looks at Hop, emotions flying over her face like a shadow through maple leaves, until she stands up and enfolds him in a crushing hug. “Hop, this is amazing! You’re amazing! Congratulations!”

It’s a reflex for him to hug her back, and Sonia sees a tear fall onto Gloria’s hair before turning away and giving them a little space. She takes Yamper into the backyard – and both Zacian and Zamazenta are sitting there, waiting patiently for their masters with wagging tails. Yamper dances around the duo before heading off to do her business. Sonia looks down and sees the discarded pokéballs.

“Did you two get out of those?” she points accusingly. Neither looks even remotely shamed. Instead, they jump and down a bit before pointing their snouts at the door. “Ah. Well, your masters are having a moment. Would you settle for me and some leftover curry?”

They let out some rather puppy-ish huffs before laying down; Sonia obediently fetches the leftovers, and the duo eat so much that she goes into the house two more times before they are sated. She takes a seat on the garden bench after brushing away the overnight rain, lets Yamper take a nap on her feet, and talks to no one.

“They’re in the sitting room; didn't even bat an eye when I walked in. Thought it’d be nice to give them some space to talk or whatnot. They’re going to be plenty busy these next few years, so it’s the least I can do. Hop’s degrees, Gloria’s Championship… important work being done on both sides.” She sighs and looks at Zamazenta as it licks the plate clean. “Just between you, me, and the garden, it was one of Gran’s last hopes that Hop could have his new wish come true. She wrote a letter of recommendation for him that I sent posthumously to Oak and the USoPM with my own letter. She’d be so proud of him. _I’m_ really proud of him. But now it’s my turn to make a wish that I’m not sure can come true.”

And now Sonia wants to cry because she knew this was coming, she knew that their dreams would pull them in different directions, and she wants to have hope that they’ll make it through and stay together despite so many years that they’ll have apart….

She remembers the past twenty years of her life mirrored against Hop’s.

“I just wish for them to be happy, you know. It’s a damn shame I didn’t really get to try it, but at least _they_ should.” Zamazenta rests its giant head in her lap, and she strokes it like she’s always petted a Legendary Pokémon. Her legs are going to fall asleep but it’s worth it. “People can’t predict the future, but we sure as hell can recognize a pattern when it hits us in the face. Gloria’s the Champion – she can’t leave Galar for more than a few weeks a year. And Hop’s degrees will take at least seven years to complete. _Seven_ bloody years jumping from Unova to Kanto to Unova again. It may as well be an eternity.”

Zacian huffs at the word from its place next to Yamper.

“It’s true. There’s so much that can happen in that time. Look at the last five – it’s been a whirlwind, hasn’t it? I just…,” and she groans in frustration. “I’m happy that both Hop and Gloria have goals that they’re so passionate about. And I’m happy that they’re in love, despite being so awful at admitting it. It’s that the intersection of those two things seems so impossible. Impossible.”

She stops talking to look over the garden, getting lost in her own head. It’s just as well; the back door opens a minute later, and Gloria is there with tired eyes and a red nose. She actually startles when she sees both Legendaries out of their balls, but breaks out into a real smile.

“Well, someone made themselves comfy.”

Zacian rolls onto its back and Gloria immediately jumps onto its belly and gives it a good petting. “I came out here to collect our things, and find you cuddling with these two.”

“You may dole out proper blame on your Pokémon, not me,” Sonia defends, though she’s gentle because Gloria still looks fragile. “Are you heading back to Wyndon?”

“In a bit. I have to stop off at Mum’s house for a change of clothes, or I’m going to look a right mess on the train. Sorry for the short visit.”

Sonia smiles at her, trying to push as much positive energy and good wishing as possible into one expression though it feels a little false. “It’s always wonderful to see you. Don’t be a stranger.”

“I won’t – promise. Come on Zacian, let’s go.” She pulls it back into the pokéball before heading off. Sonia hears someone sniffle, even at this distance, and decides not to go back in the house yet. She would be chilled but for the intense body heat from Zamazenta, so she’s fine right where she is.

Not thirty seconds after she sees Gloria ride off down the road, Hop slams open the back door and immediately asks, “Sonia, what the bloody hell do I do?”

“You take the position.”

“Of course I will! I’m not that stupid! I mean… I mean, me and Gloria. I think I love her, and I think she feels the same, but these next few years are just going to be a mess and Unova is a six hour flight from here and Kanto is ten-“ and he stops and his eyes shine like bits of broken glass cutting him up. “Sonia, _what do I do_?”

Sonia doesn’t have an answer.

* * *

Author's Note (01/19/2020): It has been literally six-seven years since I've last published a fanfiction (Kryssa's Flute on Fanfiction.net), but I was hit hard by the writing bug while playing Pokémon Sword, so all this happened. I'm not sure how often this will be updated, but I will try extremely hard to finish this story.

Thanks for reading!


	2. Start a War To Start a Revolution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. Initially written to be a one-shot introspective piece on Sonia's complicated relationship with Leon that has spiraled out of my control.
> 
> "I didn’t mean to. I really did want to tell him in person. Go get a drink together to celebrate,” and his voice softens into a whisper. “I feel like a kid again. All these years, and I still just want to hear him say he’s proud of me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Pokémon franchise by any stretch of the imagination. There is no particular song for this chapter.
> 
> Author's Notes (01/27/2020): This story keeps getting more and more chapters because, you know, brevity is not a talent of mine when it comes to writing. Also, many thanks to everyone who has stopped by to read!

What she does have, however, is empathy, and she give him a long weekend. While being more put-together than he was as a teenager, his focus goes to pot when he’s this upset. There are no active projects that he’s running right now, and he’ll soon be working on his own, so she doesn’t really need help. Instead, she gives him the order to spend the time thinking.

“Go to the Wild Area. Visit your family. Do the paperwork. I don’t care what it is, but you are banned from the lab until Monday. Put your head on straight, then come back.”

He takes it really seriously, and Sonia is almost glad to have the lab to herself. She can talk to herself, talk to the eggs, and sing along with Piers’ newest single without Hop’s teasing. She can also finish editing the outline Hop have started for his thesis; it’s the one that he can take to Unova and Kanto.

The person who comes back on Monday is Hop, but he moves like he’s got Conkeldurr rods in his spine. She has to ask. “What happened?”

“Nothing. I didn’t visit Gloria, if that’s your concern.”

“Yours and Gloria’s relationship is not my concern.” Which is a very teeny-tiny lie. “Would you like to try answering the question I actually asked?”

Appropriately chagrined, he starts again. “I visited Mum this weekend. Had a good long chat. I finished the first part of the paperwork, and I’m ready to fax it. I want this, and I’m going.”

It wasn’t real until he said so, and Sonia feels a pang of sadness go through her. She’ll miss him and his (mostly) good-natured energy. “I’m proud of you, Hop. You’re going to be a fine professor.”

“Thanks, Sonia. It… I really appreciate all that you’ve done. Just… thanks.”

“You’ve been worth the trouble. Now, are you ready to talk about your study?”

He visibly perks up. “Yeah. I wanted to go over the final draft with you before I submit.”

They sit and talk for most of the morning about his study, hammering out some of the details and re-writing a few lines in his protocol. The start of his thesis will be based around the most common illnesses that are seen in Pokémon Centers, and narrow down to check for any change due to breed, type, trainer, location, seasonality, and additional patient information. With this data, he can create a checklist of symptoms or infectious that can used in most Pokémon Centers worldwide in order to track any potential pandemics or problems occurring. The study will take him around Galar for the next six months, which is good training for his public health degree. But Sonia knows it will also give him the chance to visit Gloria more often, since he won’t be bound to Wedgehurst like he is now, though she promised to keep his room in her mansion nice and clean.

It’s a solid plan, and he is practically chomping at the bit to see it through. Hop looks more like himself as they talk, back to being enthused over his idea, and they are both surprised to see that noon has come and gone while they were working. So much to do, so little time. He starts next week, and it’s a whirlwind to try and get everything ready. Somehow they do and, with the stamp of approval from the Galar Healthcare Department, Hop now has the freedom to interview the nurses and staff at the Pokémon Centers in Galar. It’s quite a heady responsibility, but neither are worried. He’s going to be amazing.

But the one thing she doesn’t take in account is the fact that her wonderful assistant _never told his brother about any of this_.

She knows this because on Friday at high noon, while she and Hop are at the Lab, someone opens the door and yells, in that oh-so-familiar baritone, “HOP?!”

Said young man pokes out from behind the desk, while she glances down from the balcony library with her heart jumping in her chest.

“Oh hey, Lee. What brings you by?” Hop asks, completely ignoring the look on his brother’s face.

“When were you going to tell me that you got your letter?” he asks, arms crossed, teeth gritted, and voice strained. “That you’re leaving the country?”

“Ah, shit, sorry,” he said, and Sonia is glad that _he_ hasn’t noticed her yet as he strides into the main lab. “I wanted to tell you in person. I mean, something like this is pretty serious, so it didn’t really feel right to text you about it. And I really got roped into finishing all this stuff, and you know how it is, time just kinda flies away when you’re busy….”

“You had the time to tell Gloria – that’s who _I_ heard it from.”

“Well, yeah. Gloria was here when I got the letter. And I went to visit Mum last weekend. Asked you to come home, but I didn’t get a quick reply so I just kinda forgot to send a follow-up. I thought she’d tell you anyway.”

Sonia can’t see the look on his face – now his back is towards her – but the set of his shoulders has changed. It’s like he is both stiffer and more deflated. The worst part is that he’s silent. He is _never_ silent, this man who always has an opinion and something to say, especially when it comes to his brother.

Finally, he says, “So you’re leaving. When?”

“Not until August.”

“That’s five months away!”

“Honestly, I’m kinda glad I don’t have to wait too long. Not that I won’t miss everyone, because I very much will, but I’m not the patient type. No kidding, right?”

“It just seems really fast. Are you really ready for this?”

“You know,” and Hop’s voice changes to a minor key, to the start of a storm, as he stands up again. “Since you’ve walked in, I have yet to hear the words ‘congratulations!’, or ‘good job, little brother’, or whatnot. All I’ve gotten is a goddamn lecture about keeping you out of the loop, which – to be honest – seems pretty hypocritical considering where you were for fifteen years of my life.”

_Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit_

While they may have been a little distant for most of their childhoods, both have the magical sibling ability to know exactly which buttons to press to rile up the other. Thus, Sonia knows that another fight is eminent when he retorts, “Hey, _I_ came _here_ wanting to know what’s going on, which is more effort than you gave.”

“_I _texted first! And you couldn’t even be bothered to reply! So much for effort.”

“You still could have called! I want to know about something important like this! Excuse me for being pissed off about being excluded from your life!”

“Maybe if you actually wanted to be in it as my brother instead of my dad or my boss, then I’d try harder!”

“What the- Hop, I’ve never thought I was anything but your brother!”

“You’ve barely thought about me at all! The only time you cared about me was when me and Gloria went for the Gym Challenge, and now we all know _she’s_ your favorite sibling!”

“THAT’S ENOUGH!”

And both of them whip their heads up to look at her, fire in their eyes as she climbs down the stairs. Now that Hop’s taller than his brother, it is mildly intimidating being around both men when they’re angry. She decides she gives less than a damn. “While you both seem determined to have this argument in my lab, I am going to stop it.”

“This isn’t your problem,” Hop says, shooting in all directions.

Sonia channels her inner Gran and walks right up to her student. “You are on the track to becoming a doctor and a professor. If you do not make an effort to pull your hot-tempered head out of your arse and learn how to be a professional, then _I will do it for you_.”

He mentally steps back, realizing that he just mouthed off at his teacher, and mumbles, “Sorry, Professor Magnolia.”

_I like the sound of that._ She turns on the other Terrene. “And you! You walk in here without even a hello to myself or Hop, all up in arms about _your_ feelings rather than his, and you have the gall to be angry that he’s angry?! Get out of my lab.”

“Sonia, wait-”

“Get! Out!”

He has never heard her yell at him – never. She’s been mad and frustrated and all sorts of feelings at him, but this sort of anger is unusual for her. Maybe because she sides with Hop on this fight.

He doesn’t say anything; just turns around and leaves the lab as quickly as he came. A handful of seconds pass in dead quiet before she turns to Hop. “Let’s go get something to drink.”

A wordless nod, then fifteen minutes later they’re sitting in a pub in Wedgehurst. Both them are nursing a pint before Sonia finally says, “He was pretty hurt, you know.”

“Yeah. I fucked up.”

“A little.”

“I didn’t mean to. I really did want to tell him in person. Go get a drink together to celebrate,” and his voice softens into a whisper. “I feel like a kid again. All these years, and I still just want to hear him say he’s proud of me.”

_Oh, sweet Hopscotch,_ and she gently rubs his back. “He’s always been proud of you. Way before your acceptance to the USoPM, before the Gym Challenge. Trust me, I’d hear about it all the time.”

He groans and lays his head on the table. “It’s not like he’s never told me, either. But this is the first time I’m doing something that’s got nothing to do with being the Champion or even Galar. I’m finally doing my own thing, and it would have been nice to hear he’s supportive. I’ve looked up to my brother for everything, but now I have to look inside for this.”

“You’re worried he’s going to feel unwanted in your life?”

A shrug. “Lee likes to be needed. Likes to be in the thick of things. If he’s not, he’s not bothered with thinking about it.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Sonia mutters, then finishes her drink in a single pull. “Want some advice?”

“Can’t hurt.”

“Give him a call, and ask to meet him out for a late lunch. Or a drink, or whatever. He may have been in the wrong with how he stormed in, but you start your field work on Monday. After that is Unova. Better use the time you’ve got with the people you care about. And your brother loves you very dearly.”

Hop is quiet as he digests her advice and finishes his ale. She can almost see him bristling at the idea of offering the olive branch first, but he eventually caves in. “Maybe I’ll call after work.”

“You head home. I’m going to finish a few things and close up the lab for the weekend.”

As a thanks, and an apology for the almost-fight in her lab, Hop pays the bill. They head their separate ways, and Sonia works the rest of the afternoon in thoughtful silence.

At least, until she hears a polite knock at the front door of the lab as the sun is setting.

_Oh, you must be joking._

It takes a good thirty seconds to put down the egg she’s holding, rewrap it, adjust the temperature in the incubator after closing it, and make sure that the vitals are reading before she can answer the door. When she does open it, he’s standing there looking like a small boy who broke a window.

“Yes?”

“I wanted to say thanks.”

She blinks at him, utterly uncomprehending. “What?”

“Hop called me to visit. Talked a long time. It was good. We don’t get to do that much anymore.”

She leans against the door frame, her body language refusing him entry. “Okay.”

“He said that you were the one who suggested we make up. So… thank you for that.”

“You owe your brother better than what you did today.”

He nods silently. Doesn’t flinch from the reality, accepts his responsibility.

She looks him up and down, and it sucks _so much_ that she can feel this attracted to someone that can make her so furious. But since she can’t do what she really wants to do, which is either kiss him or shove him on his ass, she does the next best thing.

“You can come in if you are on your best behavior.”

“Promise.”

“Liar,” and he doesn’t know that she means it from the bottom of her heart. A gentle click of the lock, and they’re by themselves. She gestures to the table, and he gracefully drops down while she gets them both some water. She offers him a glass, sits down, and steels herself for this conversation. Although she doesn’t want to pick a fight, she does think there’s something that needs to be said. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Do you think Hop was wrong or right?”

“About…?”

“Any of it. All of it.”

He let out a breath and leaned back. “Loaded question.”

“As the person who knows you better than almost anyone sans your family and maybe Raihan, assume that I’m not being malicious.”

To his credit, he sits and thinks before answering. “I’m so used to thinking of him as my little brother that it’s hard thinking of him as being an adult. It’s almost hilarious, because I was fine with him running around Galar and fighting a literal demon of a Pokémon, but five years later I’m terrified of him being in another country for education. He’s not even battling!” He lets out a half-laugh, almost in disbelief of his own irrationality. “Arceus, what’s wrong with me?”

It’s almost laughable that he can’t even recognize this feeling; Sonia has lived with it since she was ten.

“You’ll miss him,” she says with simple finality, and his whole body goes still. The truth hangs in the air, a Gastly laughing at the poison it spreads. “It’s the first time you’ve ever been left behind while someone goes up and on their way.”

Finally he nods.

“Hurts, doesn’t it?” she muses aloud, and suddenly she wants to be vindictive. It’s a poor idea but her mouth moves before her brain can stop it. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. Like the rest of us did.”

He turns his head to her, all steel and sharp edges now. “Rest of you?”

“When you became Champion. Everything you had in Postwick and Wedgehurst stayed there while you flourished in Wyndon. I’m not blaming you for finding your dream,” she clarifies quickly, “but you were particularly awful at remembering the rest of us.”

“I did the best I could! I was the one who was gone, not you!”

It was a mistake, tearing at these old scars to make him feel guilty. She doesn’t need to bleed just to prove a point, so she pulls back. “I know. But now you can’t blame Hop if he doesn’t give you the time you want him to, especially with your track record.” The defensiveness turns a little inward, turns him quiet again. Thankfully, his temper is easily cooled. She finishes up by saying, “Sad to say you’re not the person he wants to see the most, anyway.”

The barest hint of a smile on his lips, and Sonia knows he knows. “For what it’s worth, a certain Champion has been rather distracted this past week. Almost missed a meeting with the Galar Tourism Board yesterday. Perhaps it’s connected?”

“Perhaps,” and she can’t help but smile back because this feeling, right here right now, is something that has been missing for so long that she can’t help but enjoy it. It feels like they’re best friends again. Not rivals, not coworkers, not partners in a race against the ending of the world, not even two adults who respect another’s abilities. She has always liked him before she loved him, and this moment of softness makes her wonder if he likes her too.

But… she’s not ready to open the door, undo the chains, reveal her vulnerability to him. Even with five years of change, it’s too intimidating an idea. Rather, she leans back in her chair and asks, “So did you really come to Wedgehurst just to yell at your brother?”

He groans and hangs his head in his hands, propped up on his knees. “I didn’t mean for everything to happen like it did. I really wanted to bum around with him, especially after hearing that he’s going so soon.”

“So why are you here and not with him?”

“Thought I’d make it up to him by telling him about the dinner that Gloria has to attend tomorrow with Wyndon’s mayor and a few other political folks. I originally said I’d go with as her date and emotional support, but after the fight with Hop I’m trading places. We packed him a bag, and he should be in Wyndon within the hour.”

Sonia smiles. Gloria is going to flip her lid when she sees him. “That was nice.”

“I owed him.”

“So does that mean your weekend is free?”

“Mostly. I’m heading back on Sunday, but I’ve got no plans tonight or tomorrow.”

Her heart starts to pick up again at this knowledge, and she’s nervous like it’s their first time battling. She decides to throw caution to the wind. “Want to go out for dinner tonight?” and she’s very pleased that she sounds so casual.

“Sounds great; I’m starving. How about hitting up Motostoke – if you don’t mind the ride.”

“Let me close up the lab for the weekend, and I’ll be ready.” It only takes another ten minutes to shut everything down and lock the door, then she and Leon are heading towards her house as she buttons up her coat. “I’ve got to change and fix my makeup, then we can go.”

“Don’t bother. You look great. Let’s go now.”

It’s like a dozen Litwik start to warm up her chest, but she only sighs in exasperation. He doesn’t have much patience (it must run in the family, Arceus bless their mother) and she leads them towards the train station. Cheaper than a taxi and, to be honest, she’s willing to spend time on a train just to spend time with him. He makes a call someplace for reservations, then they’re on their merry way.

They arrive in Motostoke without any Wooloo on the tracks. Leon doesn’t tell her where they’re going, so she’s reasonably certain they won’t make it in time for _breakfast_, but he surprises her. He makes a lot of stops, and actually asks for directions from one or two of the stores, but they never backtrack.

Finally, they arrive. Sonia’s eyes go wide with appreciation as she stands outside the new building. “Are you serious? You got reservations to Sabre?!”

“I’ve been coming here for a few months now. They generally keep an opening for any admins associated with the Tower. It’s good for when I’m not in the mood for fast food.”

“I can’t afford this!”

“Of course you can, when it’s my treat,” and he casually walks past all the people waiting to speak with the maître-d’. She breaks out into a smile upon seeing him.

“Ah, Mr. Terrene. A pleasure to see you again. Your table is ready.”

“Wonderful,” and he turns to offer Sonia his arm. “It’s often quite crowded here.”

If she touches him she’s not going to want to stop, but it would be rude to refuse under the glare of so many people (mostly women, of course), so she steels herself and lays her hand at the crook of his elbow. He’s warm despite the late winter chill, and his jacket is the softest fabric she’s ever felt in her life and is so fitted she can practically find his pulse. It’s been literally years since she’s even shaken his hand, and this little bit of contact is going to drive her mad. Then they’re walking, and she just has to put one foot in front of the other and look around. Many of the other patrons are well dressed, and Sonia wants to give him a good swift kick in the breeches for not letting her at least fix her hair and makeup.

They sit down – the woman pulled out her chair and genteelly pushed her in – and Sonia feels like she’s in another timeline where the two of them have actually been together for years and this is something they do all the time. She immediately shakes her head and grabs the menu. While it’s not all in Kalosian, there is enough to make her think that he’s specifically chosen this place as payback for calling out his faults this afternoon. The waiter comes by and he orders a pot of tea that she asks to share.

“Well, I can’t make heads or tails of most of this,” she admits, closing the menu. “Do you have a suggestion?”

“Do you have some time?”

She holds her hands apart, a little self-sardonic. “If you’ll have it.”

He smiles and it’s radiant and she might as well have told him that he’s won the Championship again with how big that smile is. “Then, may I do the honors?”

“Please,” and she’s grateful that he doesn’t notice the tremor in her voice.

He orders them a five-course tasting menu, complete with wine pairings. Sonia almost hopes she’s going to be drunk after all this because it’s like a dream, sitting here with him as they talk and eat and laugh and look out the window over Motostoke and into the Wild Area. They’ve never done this before, never been adults enjoying each other’s time, and it’s going to her head and to her heart. He’s going to ruin her.

They eat a delicious salad decorated beautifully with rare fruits and flowers, braised Tauros tail with zucchini and eggplant, bay clams on a bed of mushrooms, squash, and lentils, aged Swanna breast with huckleberries and roasted carrots, and dessert is a pear tart with vanilla-lemon ice cream and a cookie. Everything is amazing and she can’t stop eating. It takes them nearly three hours to go through all courses, and he has no trouble finishing what she can’t, and all she wants is for this night to go on forever because he’s made it so easy to be with. He’s kind and warm, passionate and compassionate, more clever than people give him credit for, and so generous with himself that he allows more than one person to come by and take a picture with him. He might not be the Champion anymore, but he still holds a powerful place in everyone’s hearts.

Somewhere deep inside, Sonia knows that he belongs to everyone, and it burns her, breaks her into shards silently begging him to help put her back together even though it won’t ever be him, he who carries the ideals of so many in Galar. All she can do is revel in what she’s got right at this minute, the person in front of her. She lives this time, burning it into her brain like a Rotom working overtime, mentally recording each dish and drink name like she’s tracking activity on a new Dynamax spot.

When they leave, she is definitely tipsy; she’s a good ole Galarian girl and can drink a lot of men under the table, but wine has a way of making her light and free. He notices but is enough of a gentleman to say nothing. He is also gracious enough to offer his arm again as they walk back to the train station; it takes longer than usual, but Sonia doesn’t have enough presence of mind to help him. They sit down, and the next thing she knows he is tapping her shoulder.

“Hey, Sonia, we’re almost at Wedgehurst.”

She fell asleep. Not just that, she fell asleep _against his shoulder_. “Sorry!” she says, sitting up fast and nearly making the train spin in a circle.

He gives a slightly amused chuckle. “Come on, let’s get you home.” Sonia’s not that wasted, and ends up leading them to the mansion. Cotton-soft silence hangs between them, as if they’ve used up all their words and can only share a touch or a look. Finally, he leads her to the front door, and Sonia doesn’t ever want him to leave. She isn’t drunk enough to make a really poor choice, but she is willing to blame the alcohol when she says, “Thanks for tonight. I had a great night – best in a long time, I admit.”

“Me too. It feels like forever since we’ve talked like that.”

“It has been. I’d love to do it again.”

He nods, almost to himself. “Then, tomorrow night? Six o’clock sound good?”

_What?_ “What?”

“Are you free? Sorry, I didn’t even ask.”

“No, I’m free! I just… it’s…,” and the words get all jumbled in her mouth until she says, “I want to. Spend time with you, that is. A lot of time. Oh good Dialgia, I should stop before I say something stupid. Good night!”

And then her body moves before her brain can catch up, and she thinks she gives him a hug _and_ a kiss on the cheek before unlocking the front door and swinging herself inside and shutting the door in one single move.

Now he’s laughing for real, echoing from his chest. “Good night, Sonia. I’ll text you with details.”

She drops her purse, jacket, and shoes on the floor before running upstairs and screaming into the biggest pillow she has in her room.


	3. Two Points of Separation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected.
> 
> Chapter 3: “You need to decide if you’re ready to toss out some of that baggage in order to have a functioning relationship. Letting some of it go means both talking to Leon about your concerns so that he knows where you’re coming from, and then mentally letting them go to give him a so-called chance. And you and I both know that you are absolute shite at letting go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes I have songs that I like to listen to while I write a chapter. The one for this chapter is "The River and the Highway" by Pam Tillis. It's a bit of an oldie, but the mood really swells with this song after Nessa and Sonia leave the beauty parlor until the end of the chapter.

The morning comes by almost too fast; she managed to sleep pretty well last night, in no small part to the wine, but also because the whole day left her so wrung out her body decided to give up and collapse. She sleeps until well past 8, which almost never happens, and wakes up so refreshed that she lets herself lounge in bed.

Then she remembers that _I have a date tonight!_ And sits up so fast that Yamper startles awake. Her brain cycles through a hundred different ideas in the span of thirty seconds before she decides on two plans of action.

1 – Take a shower.

2 – Call Nessa

The shower part is easy. She has a moment of weakness where she wonders if she should shave, but it’s still chilly outside and she doesn’t think she’ll be wearing a dress and if she must then that’s what 2-hour pre-event alarms are for.

The decision to call Nessa is a little harder. She knows she needs to talk to someone about this, given how flustered she’s feeling. It doesn’t seem right talking to her parents about her love life right now. Calling Hop is out of the question. Gloria herself would be an option, but it wouldn’t be fair to take her away from Hop. Raihan is no help – he usually suggests sex as the way to release her unresolved tension but is not terribly specific on who should join her. None of her newer friends know that she’s still pining over the ex-Champion of Galar, and rehashing old history is not going to help.

So, Nessa it is. She picks up on the third ring, looking fresh and beautiful. “Hey girl! What’s going on?”

“Hello, I have an emergency!”

“Uh huh. Like, you-got-a-horrible-haircut emergency, or unholy-spirit-of-evil-is-about-to-destroy-Galar-again emergency?”

“I have a date tonight.”

“Oh, thank Arceus! It took you bloody forever to get over Leon!”

“…He’s my date.”

Her mouth drops open. “You’re serious?”

“Yes!”

“Can you be in Hulbury in 30 minutes?”

“Sure. I’ll hail a taxi now.”

“Good. I’m setting up two spa dates so we can talk _and_ help you look good.”

“I love you.”

“Of course you do. See you soon.”

The taxi only takes 20 minutes at this time of day, so she stands outside the Hulbury Pokémon Center and waits for Nessa. When the latter shows up, she gives Sonia a big hug, then holds her at arms’ length to look her up and down.

“I swear, if you leave out a single detail about what’s gone down between you two, I am going to hang you from a mast.”

Sonia laughs, and then they’re on the move. They hit up Nessa’s favorite spa, located right on the edge of the sea, and are immediately whisked away for a “couples” massage. Sonia bites the Bullet Seed and tells her nearly everything that happened yesterday, leaving out details of the brothers’ fight and her talk with Hop. Nessa, for her part, doesn’t comment beyond a few noncommittal sounds – either from Sonia’s words or the massage, no one knows. But once she finishes the story, Nessa finally says, “You want to know what I think?”

“Enlighten me.”

“He’s finally realized that he’s attracted to you too. Gods of sea and storm be praised.”

It’s very satisfying to hear her say that; Sonia really hopes it’s true.

“But! There are two problems. One is that you guys have a lot of history – and it’s not all good. Leon doesn’t know that, though; he thinks you two have always been friends, and now you’re on the way to being closer “friends”. He doesn’t have negative memories of you, not the way you do.”

“You mean, he’s not carrying the baggage around that I’m carrying.”

“Exactly. He doesn’t know that you’ve got all these hard feelings about being left behind or ignored, which are still valid concerns. And it’s not like he’s got a lot more time on his hands than he did five years ago. Owning the Tower keeps him pretty busy, too. So if you guys were to get into a long-term relationship, you’d have to think about moving your lab to Wyndon since he certainly can’t move the Tower to Wedgehurst.”

Ah yes, reality. How unpleasant. “And the second thing?”

“You need to decide if you’re ready to toss out some of that baggage in order to have a functioning relationship. Letting some of it go means both talking to Leon about your concerns so that he knows where you’re coming from, and then mentally letting them go to give him a so-called chance.” She closes her eyes as she is turned on her back. “And you and I both know that you are absolute shite at letting go.”

A very deep, heavy sigh. The massage therapist gets to work on Sonia’s lower back. It feels really good, getting the tightness pounded and kneaded away, and she’s willing to let go of almost anything at this point. They are both silent until they move into the nail salon where the pedicure chairs await. Sonia enjoys the scent of lavender and vanilla in her skin as she leans back into the chair.

“You’re right, of course.”

“I know.”

“But I don’t know that I’m ready to do that. To literally forgive him for fifteen years of making the rest of the world first and me second.”

“It’s not just you that was second.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m just being selfish.”

Nessa snorts indelicately. “You’re also asking him to change nearly twenty years of habits. Good luck getting through that head of a Rhydon.” She notices the color that the pedicurist is painting. “That’s not your usual green.”

“I decided to go with something a little… different.” It’s a deep violet, with hints of red glittering through. The contrast on her toes is very distinct, but Sonia likes it.

“Nice choice. Very sexy. If he gets to see you without shoes on, that is.”

Sonia laughs weakly. “We’ll see.”

“Did you give any thought to the Vazavi wax I told you about?”

Now she turns red. “I think I’ll pass.”

“Too bad. It takes some getting used to, but it’s better at keeping your bikini lines clean. Or thong lines, depending on what you like.”

“I will take your word on it.”

The conversation makes a turn into a discussion of clothes and Nessa’s modeling career. Sonia paints her fingernails the same color and likes the way the color draws attention to her hands. For all the work in the lab and at historical sites, she tries to take good care of her skin. Nessa goes for a navy blue, which makes her look even more fey than usual. When they finish, both are relaxed and ready for more.

But after leaving the spa and they’re heading to a shopping center for an outfit, she gets a text.

Leon: **Hey im sorry but ive got to go back to wyndon today something came up and they need my help rain check later**

Just like that, everything that feels right is wrong again. The knots undone by the massage suddenly return to strangle her, the inner glow she has fades to darkness. All she can feel is how her body doesn’t want to move, and she doesn’t think she can process how horrible this feels _how horrible this always feels when he makes and breaks his word_ because there’s nothing inside of her to feel. She may as well have a Gigalith in her stomach.

She barely realizes that the phone slips through her fingers until Nessa catches it. Her friend reads the text, and her eyes turn sorrowful. “Oh, Sonia, I’m so sorry.”

And then she’s sitting on one of the benches facing the sea, crying on Nessa’s shoulder as her friend strokes her hair and brushes away the tears that could be mist from the rolling sea. She can’t even say why she’s crying because it all hurts so much and it shouldn't, and how could she be so _stupid_ to get happy when this was obviously the only result and how could she waste all that time and money trying to feel pretty when it’s stupid and doesn’t matter because he’ll never see her except when it’s convenient, because she’s a Professor and not a potential lover. She runs these thoughts through her head like Yamper after a Diglett and keeps going nowhere fast.

“Think you’ll be all right for a moment or two?” Nessa whispers. She nods and takes the handkerchief to wipe her face. Nessa heads off and returns a handful of minutes later with a cup of lemonade and a cookie. Sonia takes the lemonade first, and the mix of sweet and tart actually jolt her back into her body.

“Sword and shield, this is strong!”

“Good. I had a Galvantula zap it before I brought it over.”

Sonia smiles at the ridiculousness. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mind it.”

They are quiet for a little while longer while she eats and drinks, with Nessa’s shoulder offering her warmth.

Finally, she has enough of herself back to say, “I think I should get home now.”

“Mind if I make a suggestion?”

“Murdering him won’t really fix the problem.”

Nessa lets out a bark of a laugh. “Girl, you can hardly stop me now. But really, why don’t you finish shopping with me before you go?”

“Looking at new bras isn’t going to matter.”

“Just because Leon won’t see them doesn’t mean someone else can’t.”

“I don’t really want anyone else to see them.”

“Then how about being beautiful for yourself?”

Sonia feels a little teary-eyed again; not only is Nessa trying so damn hard to perk her up, but the words start to ring in her head like arpeggio bells. She never feels beautiful anymore. “Okay. Just for a few minutes.”

Her friend takes full advantage of the permission and drags Sonia to a rather upscale lingerie shop. She is popped into a changing room, divested of her tops, and measured by a girl with a dozen-plus piercings who looks like she’d fit more with Spikemuth than here. She runs off while Sonia puts on a thin robe and waits. When the girl returns with a literal armful of styles, she actually helps Sonia put them on (which is a new experience) then runs her fingers over the shoulder and back straps for fit. Some of them look so damn good on her that it’s astounding.

“Can I see?” Nessa asks from outside.

Sonia’s got nothing to hide – both of them change into swimsuits around each other not infrequently – and Nessa lets out a low whistle. “Damn, you look like you got a breast job in that. Wow.”

She playfully kicks her friend out, then tries on a few more before deciding that yeah, it’s a confidence boost to have bras that make her look like she’s gained a cup size. She buys two bras and some new bottoms, bemoaning the cost but happy to have a treat like this that she’d never otherwise get.

They share a hug and a promise to visit more often – she trusts Nessa’s word – before she hails a taxi and heads home. But landing in Wedgehurst suddenly makes her feel claustrophobic, and she practically runs home because even though no one knows about her lost date tonight, she still feels like her neighbors are staring at her.

Once inside, she is greeted by Yamper dancing at her feet. They sit on the couch together and, in the safety of her grandmother’s home holding her beloved Pokémon, Sonia curls into herself and falls asleep.

She dreams of nothing and it’s a blessing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (02/03/2020): So this chapter was originally going to be twice as long, but I decided to cut it into smaller, bite-sized chapters because I want to gravity of Sonia's feelings to sink in before moving to the next part. Because the next part is where I start bringing in the complications, of which I have previously referred.


	4. At Our Crossroads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. Initially written to be a one-shot introspective piece on Sonia's complicated relationship with Leon that has since spiraled out of my control.
> 
> Chapter 4: It’s not the same as a date, but both Nessa and Raihan are trying their hardest to lift her up and push back the loneliness that it works. It’s so funny how her friends can make her feel this much better, more put-together. Like they’re giving her glue to rebuild the cracks in her spirit. She owes them big.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes: Pick a song you'd like to dance to and throw it into the club scene. Go wild.
> 
> I also tend to estimate the sizes of Pokemon to the anime, rather than the game (because where is the fun if Charizard isn't big enough to ride?!). Just a little something to keep details straight.
> 
> Of note, I use the calculated heights from Twitter as my reference. Sonia=5'10"/178cm; Leon=6'0"/183cm; Nessa=5'9"/175cm, Raihan=6'8"/203cm. I did, however, futz around with aged-up Hop and Gloria being 6'1"/186 and 5'3"/161cm (respectively). I am a fan of tall, lanky Hop headcanon, and the idea that he shot up like a weed after the stress of the Gym Challenge was over.

When she wakes up, it’s because her Rotom phone is ringing. She answers it on speakerphone rather than video, and then thanks all her lucky stars because she doesn’t need him to see her like this.

“Hey, Sonia! Heard that Leon’s being an arse again!”

“Raihan,” she smiles, then blows her nose. Yuck. “Lovely to hear your voice.”

“Well you sound awful, mate.”

“A real charmer, aren’t you? It’s always a shock to hear that more ladies aren’t breaking down your bedroom door.”

“They are, but a real gentleman never kisses and tells.”

The banter helps wake her up, and she wanders into the kitchen for an ice bag for her eyes. They feel super puffy and gross. “What’s going on? You never call just for no reason.”

“Nessa told me what happened.” For a split second, Sonia feels a little annoyed that her friend is spilling her secrets, but Raihan’s almost as close a friend so she calms down. “I thought you’d like to spend time with a friend.”

“You? Talk?”

“I can word just fine, thanks. My plan is, though, that we don’t do much talking.”

“Oh?” Raihan’s a great friend, and sharply attractive, but she’s never given that option much consideration.

“I’m taking you out tonight. Hammerlocke has a brilliant club, and it’s probably been years since you’ve gone dancing.”

More like a decade, but who’s counting? “That’s sweet, Rai, but I’m not sure I’m in the mood.”

“Too bad. I’m sending a taxi over at 6PM sharp. If you’re not on it, I’m jumping on Flygon and picking you up by the jacket.”

He’d do it too. “This is extortion.”

“Nah, just good ole fashioned kidnapping. You got something to wear?”

“Do they have a dress code?”

“Got a short skirt or dress?”

“Not really.”

“Tight pants? Tight shirt?”

“Really?!”

“Hmm… go for racy-but-expensive and you’ll be fine.”

“I can’t do either.”

“Fake it. And wear a sexy bra for the confidence boost.”

She feels herself go red from head to toe. “Did Nessa tell you about our shopping trip, too?!”

“What trip? She just mentioned the spa, then the cancelled date.”

_Oh fuck-a-Ducklett._ “Nothing. Nevermind.”

“Oh, see now, that right there – that’s not fair to do a guy. You can’t leave me hanging wondering what sort of new panties you’ve got.”

“Not a chance in the world.”

She can literally hear his smirk from so many kilometers away. “I’ll wring the story out of you someday. Better yet, tonight. I’ll see you when you get here.”

“Bye, Raihan. See you tonight.”

It’s not the same as a date, but both Nessa and Raihan are trying their hardest to lift her up and push back the loneliness that it works. Wedgehurst has a little mall that she quickly visits, buying a dark purple shirt that covers her arms but dips a V into her chest. She also buys a silver skirt that’s got a slit up one side and hugs her curves so well that she is resigned to wearing a thong lest someone see her pantylines (and wouldn’t that make Raihan crow with amusement). Overall, she looks fashionable but not overdone. She heads back home, spends too much time shaving before getting dressed, fixing her hair into a looser ponytail against her shoulder and neck without the usual heart decorations, and throwing on some basic makeup. She doesn’t try too hard, but her lips are now deep red and her eyes are smoky and that’s bloody good enough.

She’s already fed and walked Yamper, who looks hopeful that she can go too. “Not today, pup, but maybe another time.” She hears the taxi land outside, and goes to get her coat, high heels, and purse. Before the doorbell can ring, she flings it open to head out.

And standing there, wearing a deep orange button-down shirt (with the top two buttons undone) with black slacks, is Raihan. His hair has been freed from the usual bandana but still pulled back show off his spikes. He’s got a gold necklace with a little gold Dreepy pendant that shines against him, and honestly he looks he just walked right off a photoshoot. If Sonia wasn’t so hard for someone else, she’d have felt pretty comfortable wanting to tell him exactly what underwear she’s wearing.

He smiles appreciatively. “Looking gorgeous.”

“Flatterer. Though you look pretty good yourself.”

“Thanks. Now smile.” And he pulls her into him, hand on her waist, and his Rotom takes a quick picture of them. “Yeah, that’s a good one. Let’s go.”

They continue talking all the way to Hammerlocke, his arm thrown over the back of their shared seat, and Sonia takes advantage of his body heat; being a Dragon trainer must come with a few perks. He tosses his suitcoat (waiting in the taxi) over her legs, too, which helps cut the wind down. He snaps a few more selfies as they look down at the nightlights of the passing cities until they finally land right outside an old castle that is making way too much noise to be deserted. He helps her out, and they waltz right past the bouncer who fist-bumps Raihan.

It’s big; bigger than she expected. There are four rooms, each with different music, but Raihan leads her into the largest room. There’s a huge bar lining one wall, and a DJ outfitted with an obnoxious number of bass speakers, and people who look far closer to Hop and Gloria’s age than hers. They pass by one row of couches to reach a spiral iron staircase that’s being watched by a second bouncer. Turns out, up there's where a lot of the VIPs sit, and there’s a second, slightly more sophisticated bar upstairs.

“Looks like she beat us here,” Raihan says, and her eyes dart from couch to couch until she sees Nessa waving frantically at them. She’s wearing a new crop top and belly chain with a matching skirt and open-toed wedges. Faster than one would expect for someone wearing heels that high, she darts up and hugs Sonia.

“I’m so glad Raihan convinced you to come with us. Come on, drop your stuff and we’ll go dance.”

“Won’t someone try to steal my purse?”

“Of course not. That’s why they’re here,” and she points at the Pawniard sitting on the table, glaring at everyone passing by. “They’re trained to watch whatever is put on the table or couches.”

That’s a clever idea; expensive one, considering the amount of training that Pawniard require, but Sonia assumes that anyone who can afford to be up in the VIP section can afford the personal guard. She drops both purse and jacket, and the three of them head back downstairs to dance.

She thought she’d feel more self-conscious, considering she’s probably ten years older than most of the other patrons and she’s about to dance right next to two of the most attractive people in the world. But Raihan moves right in front of her, his steps light and easy and help her fall into a matching rhythm, and Nessa stays at her side. Soon enough she lets the music take over her concerns, and she grabs Nessa’s hand to dance with her. The three of them move together, smiling and enjoying themselves; Sonia laughs when a stray beach ball bounces against Nessa’s head and Raihan lazily bats it back into the crowd.

It’s so funny how her friends can make her feel this much better, more put-together. Like they’re giving her glue to rebuild the cracks in her spirit. She owes them big; maybe she can get a rare Pokémon for each.

“Hey,” Raihan yells over the music. “I’ve got to get a drink. You two want anything?”

“No, I’m good.”

“Me too.”

“I’ll hook you up anyway.”

And the two women go back to enjoying themselves and the music. Though Sonia is hardly surprised when Nessa comments, “That’s a new outfit.”

“Bought it for tonight.”

“Are you wearing them?”

“Yeah. Didn’t have much choice, considering this,” and she gestures at the tightness and plunging neckline.

Nessa only smirks, then the two of them are back to dancing without words. Only a few minutes pass before two men – possibly contemporary in age to them – step right up and ask, “Wanna dance?”

Of course, Nessa makes it a game. “Only if you know how.”

“Try me,” and one of them takes her hand and shows that he definitely knows what he’s doing.

Sonia looks at the other man; tall and fair, built well, doesn’t obviously look like a serial killer. Sure, why not? “Okay.”

He comes up behind her, hands on her hips, and then they’re rocking together. It’s been a long time since she’s done this, but it’s nice and not too hard on her knees or hips (the heels are going to make her pay later, she can tell, but for now it’s fine). He doesn’t let his hands drift too far up or down, and some amount of time passes before she realizes that Raihan didn’t make it back and Nessa’s now gone.

A moment of panic, because of course she panics and worries for her friends, but he’s sitting up at their VIP area, drinking a beer and talking up a few very attractive (and minimally dressed) women, while Nessa is by the bar, flirting with her new dance partner. Sonia grits her teeth; it would have been nice if they warned her.

But she decides to stop caring and just go for it. She doesn’t know how long she dances with this guy before breaking off and heading upstairs for a break. Raihan got her a stout, as he promised, and she drinks it to get some energy back. Then Nessa comes up and suggests shots, and Sonia drinks something that tastes like an Alcremie dipped in a Carkol and burns through her like restrained tears and swallowed curses. She decides that was _way_ more boosting than she needed and gets up to go back downstairs.

Except that Raihan gets up with her, leaving his jacket behind and the other women looking pouty, so she raises an eyebrow at him. He shrugs, which is a bit of surprise considering how much he enjoys being around lovely ladies, but Sonia lets it go as she reaches the floor with him. She doesn’t know how they go from dancing next to each other to with each other but it was smooth as silk because suddenly she’s got her back against his chest and he’s pretty good at keeping the rhythm and holding her like she could melt out of his arms if he’s not careful, but she honestly likes it because even if she’s not sure she wants something deeper, she has cared about him almost as long as

_someone else_

Her mood is this close to turning black, but Raihan spins her around in his arms, and she’s straddling his leg and her arms are around his neck (_good Giratina he’s really tall_!) and his hands have her waist and when she looks up at his eyes she sees neon turquoise embedded in dark walnut and it catches her, captivates her in him, and that moment is all it takes and he bends down and kisses her and _wow_ she didn’t think this was going to happen tonight but hey, may as well just roll with it because when the morning comes she’ll be alone again and she doesn’t actually have a boyfriend or someone else who has claim to this part of her so this is just for fun and he probably knows it too.

When he finally breaks the kiss, he brings his lips to her ear and says in a very non-joking tone, “I still want to know what you’re wearing under this. It’s been driving me mad.” His hand grabs her ass, which pushes her a little further up his thigh _and_ has the added benefit of making her gasp.

Him saying and doing stuff like that has tossed her for a loop. She can’t even banter properly. “Still not telling.”

They keep dancing and their faces are so close and it’s really distracting because it’s one thing to know that someone is attracted to you and it’s quite another to find out that it’s the second-strongest Trainer in Galar _and_ one of your lifelong friends. Part of her wants to ask if he’s just doing this to make her feel better, but immediately discards that thought. He’s easygoing when it comes to relationships, and may have wildly exaggerated bedroom talents, but he wouldn’t do that – to her, or anyone else. Wouldn’t pretend to be something or feel something he doesn’t; it would be worse than being constantly thrown aside for other pursuits.

He bends down and gently nips her neck. It’s not enough to leave a mark, but certainly enough to knock her out of her thoughts given those impressive canines. “What was that for?”

“You’re thinking of Leon, and it’s pissing me off.”

“It’s that obvious?”

He meets her eyes. “Yeah, it is. Do you want to sit down and talk?”

Her gaze darts away, and he has a hand on her back as they head back upstairs. This time, Nessa is dancing away with a few other women that Sonia doesn’t recognize. They have the table to themselves. When she sits down on the couch he’s right next to her, leaning on his forearms as he watches her. Two brand new beer bottles have appeared, but Sonia refrains while he grabs one. Something has occurred to her that she’s almost afraid of knowing, but since no one else is around….

She steels herself, dives in. “Do you like me?”

“I’ve always liked you, Sonia. You and me are the only two people in the world who know that Leon doesn’t shit gold bricks, and there’s something about being friends for this long that makes it easy to like you. We get each other.”

It’s not quite the answer she was hoping for, but it’s a nice one.

Then he sips his beer, puts it down, and follows up with, “But if you’re asking if I’d like to try a relationship with you, then yeah, I would.” He gently takes her chin and forces her to look at him. Her stomach flutters with nervousness. “I never asked before because of your feelings for Leon, but if he’s going to break a date with you that _he himself made_ then it’s clear he’s not invested in you as a romantic partner. I would be.”

Sonia hates that he might be right, and his hand moves to stroke a lock of hair from her forehead. “Can _I_ be honest now?” He nods; she continues. “I’ve never considered this before. I’ve never thought of you like… this before,” and she gestures at everything around them. “Did you plan this to try and get me to fall for you?”

He takes the beer again. “Sweetheart, I couldn’t plan this if you gave me an itinerary. I may be a genius at Pokémon battling, city-level politics, and meteorology, but asking me to predict if my good friend – who is stupidly in love with my other good friend – would want to start dating me is a little out of my comfort zone.”

She lets out something between a giggle and a snort, but then calms down. “I might just say yes because it’s flattering and part of me wants to be validated. Getting dropped like a hot Torkoal hasn’t been good for my self-esteem.”

“I promise – and I know you don’t like them – that I’m not doing this just to make you feel better. I want you to not be upset, yeah, but I’m not interested being one of Leon’s rebounds. I’m asking because I finally have a chance to try this with you, Sonia, and I want you to say yes.”

And he leans forward, gently cups her face in one hand, and brings his mouth to hers. This kiss is a little slower but still steamy and plenty good enough to make her blood feel twice as hot. He doesn’t break it very quickly either, and the moment she opens her mouth for a breath he moves. His tongue is quick, sliding in to swipe against hers before sliding back out again. But her surprise doesn’t last very long. She leans into him now, very purposefully pressing against him and shoving her tongue into him to tease the roof of his mouth.

That sends a shudder through him, and Sonia thinks she’s just caught the Dragonmaster off-guard for once.

“Damn, you are a bag of tricks!” and his smile is a mix of amused and amazed as they come apart.

“I’ve learned a few things.” Beyond her time in college she’s scratched the itch here and there, but most of this is knowledge that she’s read in magazines or online. Seems to be working.

He starts running his fingers through the curls of her ponytail. “Come back home with me.”

“I can’t,” she automatically says.

“Why not?”

“Yamper’s at home. I don’t think I should leave her alone all night, or into the morning. Hop’s out of town and no one else has the key.”

He lets out a sigh. “Yeah, that’s a problem.” Then he looks thoughtful and says, “What if I send someone to pick her up and bring her back? Would you stay the night, then?”

This is moving really fast now. Raihan has been propositioning her all night, even if it started out in jest, but now he’s being so direct she can’t pretend to not understand that he’s dead serious.

If she does this, there’s no going back. If she does this, she can’t pretend she won’t try to make a relationship with him, and she can’t let him play second fiddle to an ideal that is becoming less of an ideal and more of a lost dream. She can’t treat him like a temporary trial, like a random hookup, like they’re just fuck-buddies with no emotional strings attached because, if nothing else, he deserves better than that. She must commit to the role, and maybe finally let go of the baggage holding her back from finding someone who loves her.

At the same time… he’s going to find out and she’s not sure how she feels about that. What she does know is that if she and Raihan are together, the possibility of ever trying a relationship with him is gone because you can’t have cake and eat it too. Accepting that fact – that being with Raihan means never being with _him_ – is a sobering one, and nearly smacks her in the face with the realization that she’s wasted almost twenty years of her life waiting for someone who never waited for her. Twenty years of unrequited love… gone.

_What do I want?_

That’s the ten million pokédollar question, and she doesn’t know. But she looks at Raihan, patiently waiting for her like he’d wait as long as she’s waited for someone else.

_Do or die, Sonia Magnolia. Do or die._

She takes a breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (02/10/2020): SO! It is at this point in the story that it can either continue to sit at the 'T' rating for a little longer, or ramp up pretty immediately to 'E'. I will be very clear what the rating will be depending on the choice that Sonia follows through with, and make adjustments appropriately.
> 
> If my readers have opinions, I am interested to hear them. :)


	5. Little Miss One-Big-Mess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. Initially written to be a one-shot introspective piece on Sonia's complicated relationship with Leon that has since spiraled out of my control.
> 
> Chapter 5: "You don’t understand why I’m here? Well, I’m here because you’ve been with me since we started out as Challengers, and you’re one of my best friends! I’m here because you are a bright, brilliant soul who loves Pokémon, who can match me even if you don’t battle anymore! And if I could hold you and you’d hold me back, I’d give you the stars and the moon, I’d give you my life, I’d give you anything because you’d do the same for me!"

_I suppose I’m in too deep now._

“I’m so sorry, Raihan. I think… I think part of me really wants to, but I think I’m not ready. And I’m afraid that I’d just compare you two, and that’s not fair either.”

It’s so obvious that he’s hurt by the rejection; his brow wrinkles just the slightest, his mouth goes straight, his hands fall away. Sonia feels wretched, like she kicked a baby Goomy down a hill. Their friendship might not be the same after this, but since she’s the one who dealt the damage, she will be the one to accept the consequences. This is her fault, and he has every right to hate her.

“I’ll head back home. Thanks for a great night. I think I needed this more than I can say.”

Now he rolls his eyes at her, but the look is tempered by one of his crooked smiles. “You don’t have to leave. First off, I knew what I was risking. But it’s fine because it was worth asking. And second, Nessa will kill me if you leave now. It’s not even midnight yet, and she’s just getting started.”

“Are you sure?”

He hands her the untouched beer, and she decides to take it. “You’re still my mate, and still feeling awful because Leon was a dick.”

That’s very true, and she leans back into the couch. “So, it’s not like there’s something specifically wrong with me.”

“Probably not,” he says, but it’s not with any bite. Mostly he looks pensive. “You know, you’ve never actually told him how you feel, right?”

Chills come over her. “I… no. I don’t think so. There never seemed to be a good time. At some point, I guess I just assumed….”_ Assumed he’d say no._

“So maybe, and I’m just throwing this out there, you need to make it clear to him that you want to be more than friends. Leon’s got a heart of gold, for sure, but his head is harder than a Cranidos. And Psychic isn’t really his preferred Type, if you get my drift?”

Is that it? Is it as simple as that? Has she been wasting away for so long because she’s expected him to know how she feels? She drinks almost half her beer bottle in a single swig. “Am I really that stupid?”

He holds his hands up to placate her. “Hey, don’t say that. Even after you tell him, if his behavior doesn’t change than it doesn’t matter that he knows – he just doesn’t care.”

“What was-” and she stops from asking because it seems pretty callous to ask Raihan (who she just turned down) to tell her about Leon’s previous girlfriends and how he behaved around them. She changes tactics. “Do you think it’ll help?”

“Maybe, but I’m going to be honest. I like you, Sonia, but not enough to help you snag my rival any more than I have already.”

She is absolutely failing at being sensitive to other people’s feelings. She deserves the blisters forming on her Achilles tendon and feet. “I’m sorry.”

He tugs on her ponytail like a ten-year-old. “I know. Come on, finish your beer and we can go dance again.”

She does, and when they hit the floor Raihan is very careful in making sure to find Nessa and her new friends so that the two of them aren’t dancing alone. Nessa doesn’t pick up on the change in energy between them, and Sonia thanks the gods of time and space because she does _not_ have it in her to explain what went down. It’s private, anyway.

She spends the rest of the night dancing and drinking and moving to keep herself from perseverating on those thoughts. She doesn’t dance with any other men, mostly because Raihan immediately takes that position if any guy tries, and she’s grateful. There’s still a frisson between them that she can sense from his side, but he doesn’t make a move to do more than keep his hands on her hips. No further kisses, no whispered teasing about her panties, nothing more than a vanguard against unwanted advances. She takes another shot that Nessa buys – and it’s almost unfair that her and Raihan are so clearheaded when Sonia’s not – and lets the heat consume her thoughts.

Finally, she realizes that her feet are hurting a lot – too much to deal with anymore. When she sits down and takes off her pumps, she lets out a curse. Blisters on both her pinky toes, and an abrasion at the back of her right heel. Just wonderful.

“What the hell is that?” Raihan says angrily, and for a moment she’s concerned that he’s mad at her. “Sonia, why the hell didn’t you tell us your feet hurt?”

Good question; she doesn’t know.

“I’m taking you home,” he says with bossy finality. “Nessa can take care of herself – I’ll text her.”

Sonia is drunk enough that she can’t argue. He throws his suit coat on, gets her coat and purse – the Pawniard watches him like a Talonflame until Sonia takes her things – before they leave together. There are a handful of Flying Taxis waiting for inebriated patrons, and he hails one down.

The wind is bitter this high up, but Raihan feels hot as he holds her against his side and she hopes she’s keeping him warm too. Fast, but not really fast enough, it finds the Wedgehurst Pokémon Center; Raihan gently directs it a little north to her mansion. He gets off first, then helps her down. Landing on the ground hurts more than she expected, and her knees buckle because her feet hurt _so badly_ and Raihan curses this time as he grabs her keys and unlocks the door.

“I’m going to pick you up. Don’t hit me.”

“Fine,” she mumbles, her body and brain so tired after this whole day’s events that she basically melts into him. He carries her inside and sits her down on the couch while Yamper jumps and barks around their feet. She happily rolls on her back when he gives her some scritches and a fond hello, but then makes himself at home by going to the bathroom and filling up a bucket with hot water. He brings it and a washcloth back, and after carefully peeling off her heels and removing his jacket, he gently washes her wounds. It’s almost more than Sonia can take.

“Raihan, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re not spewing all over me so this is easy. Just trying to keep you from getting an infection.”

“Not that,” she says, trying to be more precise. “I’m sorry for saying no.”

His hands keep moving though he goes silent. She tries to make herself clear. “I’m so stupid. I’ve only been thinking about me, my pain and loss and how I’ve been in love with him for years and years and I just haven’t been able to say anything because I’m so afraid of him turning me down that I’d rather let this happen over and over rather than know the truth. I don’t want to hear him tell me that he doesn’t love me, that he’ll never love me, that I'm not worth being loved.”

“He won’t,” he says curtly. “And don’t apologize for being real with me.”

“But why are you here if I’m so awful?” and now she’s crying because everything is starting to bubble over – the casual cancellation from this afternoon after such a huge build-up, the realization that one of her close friends has a crush on her and she doesn’t feel the same and isn't willing to try, the alcohol bringing down all these walls she’s built up for so long – and she’s _still_ making this about her feelings. “Why are you helping me? I don’t understand… I’m don’t deserve th-”

“Stop it!” and now he sounds genuinely mad, dropping the washcloth in the bucket. “Sonia, I didn’t tell you how I felt before because I’m not looking for a pity relationship. I didn’t tell you because I don’t want to guilt you into spending time with me. I didn’t tell you because this is mine to deal with, just the same way you haven’t told Leon.

“You don’t understand why I’m here? Well, I’m here because you’ve been with me since we started out as Challengers, and you’re one of my best friends! I’m here because you are a bright, brilliant soul who loves Pokémon, who can match me even if you don’t battle anymore! And if I could hold you and you’d hold me back, I’d give you the stars and the moon, I’d give you my life, I’d give you _anything_ because you’d do the same for me! I know you would! So that’s why…,” and it’s like floodgates opened for him too, and the reality of this painful situation is carved into his face and into his voice like a scarring canyon in a mountain range, “that’s why I flew back with you. It’s why I’m here. I will take this time because this is the closest thing I’ll ever get to being with you.”

He abruptly stands up and heads toward the door, grabbing his jacket on the way out. “I’m sorry, Sonia, but I’ve got to go. I’ll… see you later.” Before she can say a word, and she can’t stand up to chase after him, but it’s too late and he’s out of the door and Flygon’s wings beat a solemn song of unrequited love as it fades into the distance.

Yamper jumps into her laps and licks her tears as she cries herself to sleep.

* * *

Sunday is a hot mess of a day; she’s got a mild hangover made worse by her emotional turmoil that is only mildly helped along with some NSAIDs. She spends all day inside, getting up only to feed Yamper and maybe herself. She uses the excuse that her feet hurt to put off grocery shopping. She ignores calls from Nessa. Gloria doesn’t call, but when Hop comes home way late that night, she doesn’t bother to leave her bedroom or ask him how his trip went. She cannot deal with his and Gloria’s relationship right now, either for the positive or negative events. She doesn’t reply to _his_ Saturday text; she doesn’t have the strength to take another ‘I’m too busy’ that she’s likely to get. She also doesn’t text Raihan, and he leaves her alone which she’s secretly grateful for.

She does, however, notice that he posted the picture of them going out onto his CamGram feed, along with a few other pics of them and Nessa dancing. Gym Leaders and friends make casual comments, but there is one person conspicuously absent from those. She hates that she cares that he doesn’t notice and/or doesn’t care.

Monday rolls around and Sonia still feels like she’s in no shape to be a professor. Facing Hop is just too hard. She hates herself for this, but she wakes up extra early, leaves a printout of his schedule for the next four months on the table, and a present that she got while he was gone last weekend. He can open it once he’s on the road. She brings Yamper to the lab, and it’s still dark outside when she unlocks the door and flicks on the lights.

Her lab is her second home and going through the motions of caring for it gives her grounding. It gives her some distance from all the tumult in her Sonia life rather than her Professor Magnolia life. So much so that when she gets the scheduled call from Alola from a man named Professor Kukui wanting to know more about Dynamaxing and whether there may be spots in other parts of the world because _have you ever heard of Totem Pokémon before?_ she talks to him for almost three hours. It’s a rousing discussion, and one that will need to be tested in the future probably by her going to Alola. Her mood is lightened by the thought of getting away.

Then the door opens, and Hop is standing there looking a little nervous. “Hop, what’s wrong?” she immediately asks.

“You weren’t there this morning. I got my things, and went over to the Motostoke Pokémon Center to introduce myself but they said I’ll start working tomorrow, but I just…,” and his voice fades away and she has no idea what’s got him in such a mood before he gently slaps his own cheeks and says, “Professor Magnolia, thank you for everything. I’m going to miss working with you. And I haven’t opened the present yet but I will and you didn’t have to do it but I really, really mean it when I say I appreciate it and all the things you’ve done for me.”

She can’t help it; the smile he inspires in her is so easy, so natural. “Hop, you’ve been wonderful.” It takes her a second to realize that he looks like he’s waiting for something else, and she knows what it is. She strides over to him and envelops him in a hug; he responds so quickly with his own that it nearly leaves her breathless. “And you will be amazing.”

“I’m a little scared. It’s my first time doing this alone.”

“It will fade. And there’s always a first time for everything.”

He gives her one last squeeze; it’s almost funny that he’s now taller than her when five years ago he barely reached her shoulder. A lot of growth in one young man.

“Go on, though. You have plenty of things to keep you busy than visiting with me. Just send word from time to time.”

“I promise! Oh, hey, Sonia?”

“Yes?”

“Lee said to tell you that he’ll stop by this week to talk. Said something about making up for time.”

** _NO_ **

But she doesn’t say anything, just lets him go and he heads out the door without a backwards glance and she stands there unmoving, unbreathing, a glass sculpture carved in her shape and so easily destroyed by the tiniest of tremors under her feet.

_I can’t do this I can’t do this I can’t keep doing this and watching him come and go_

“Hi, darling. How are you?”

She looks up at her Rotom. Somehow, without her conscious knowledge, she dialed her mum, and her expression changes from pleasant to concerned.

“….Sonia? Sonia, dearling, are you well?”

Tears fall before she knows what’s happening. How can so many things be out of her control? “No, I’m not. Mum… can you come over? I need help.”

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes, dear. The lab, correct?”

“Yeah.”

“Boil some water. I’ll bring your favorite tea. See you soon, dear.”

She hangs up, wipes her eyes, and immediately cleans out the teapot before filling it up, then scrubs the coffee cups still in the sink. The directions give her something tangible to hang on to, give her some grounding that she didn’t have before. By the time she hears another knock on the lab door, she might be able to talk.

Her mother Anise steps in, a woman of sixty years who carries herself with quiet dignity. She’s retired, which is why she can drop everything to come by, but frequently spends her time reading up on the history of different regions in the world and occasionally tutoring at the Uni. Sonia carries the love of history in her blood.

Right now, Anise carries a purse in one hand and a cloth bag in the other. “Take this,” and she hands the bag to Sonia with a kiss on the cheek. Inside is her favorite tea – a blue tea called spirulina mixed with dried petaya and pinap berries that is a bit more expensive than most people would prefer – and a tin of biscuits. Sonia pours hot water for them, then fills up two empty teabags with the loose-leaf. While they steep, she gets two plates for each of them, and sets the table. Her mother has also pulled out a box of tissues, and Sonia actually laughs when she sees it. She does, however, bring the rubbish bin over because she’ll probably need it. She also locks the lab door.

When the tea is finished steeping, she brings the cups to the table and places one in front of her mother and herself before sitting down. They take a few sips of tea before her mother finally says, “So what’s troubling you so much that you call in the middle of a workday?”

She spills everything. Everything from Hop’s acceptance, which Anise was pleased to hear about, to the broken not-date to Raihan’s confession and all the way up to the knowledge that _he’s_ going to stop by soon, which simply makes her sigh and shake her head. Sonia cries a few times but she’s more open about it now, and her mother lets her do so without trying to bank the flow. She lets Sonia talk without offering more than a ‘tsk’ or a ‘hmm’ or a tissue here and there.

But finally the words stop falling out and Sonia feels like she’s gutted herself all over the table and asking her mother to sew her back up because she doesn’t know if she can hold the needle and thread right now.

“It’s a hard situation,” Anise starts with. “I don’t envy being that young. what do you think of all this?”

Sonia doesn’t feel young; she mostly feels timeworn and wrung out. “I think… I need to tell him that I love him. Raihan said as much, even if he wasn’t trying to do me the favor.” She brings her head down to the table, gently thunking it over and over. “I can’t believe it’s as easy as that.”

“Not easy. Simple. Decidedly not the same thing.”

“Mum, do you think I wasted all this time not telling him?”

She takes a sip of her tea. “Were you ready to hear a rejection?”

“No.”

“Are you ready now?”

“Not really. But,” she just keeps her head on the table as she stares down at the floor, “Raihan’s confession makes me feel like a coward.”

Now her mother reaches across the table and strokes her hair. “It is natural to be afraid of failure or loss. But I think, perhaps, it’s time to ask a different question.”

“Okay….”

“What are you more afraid of – getting rejected by Leon, or losing him to someone else?”

Anise has always been very perspicacious, and this isn't the first time that Sonia wishes she wasn’t. She doesn’t like this question at all. “Both. I don’t know.”

“So it keeps you trapped between speaking your mind and keeping your peace. But there’s something that you should understand, dearling – doing nothing is still a choice. It’s a passive one, but still a choice. If you are so bound to your fear of losing what you have now, which from my perspective isn’t really all that much anymore, then you can continue to make the choice to do nothing.”

“Do you think I should, then?”

“I am going to advise you to do what makes you happy. That’s all any parent wants for their child, no matter how old their babies are.”

“It would be nice to have a straightforward answer. But I suppose that life isn’t straightforward.”

“No, even when you’re as old as I am, as old as your Gran was, things aren’t often simple. But remember what I said – _I want you to do what makes you happy_. If it makes you happy to pine for Leon, then do it. If it would make you happy to clear the air between you two, then do that. But don’t be mad at the moon for being so far away when you’re not willing to build the rocket ship, especially when you have the blueprint in your hand.”

That insight cuts into her; it doesn’t eviscerate her so much as lance all the festering abscesses made of her own emotions, turned from love and patience to anger and disillusionment. She’s full of this necrosis, this purulence that now spills out from the verbal scalpel, making her shake as she comes to grips with the fact that no, she’s not happy and no, she doesn’t want things to be like this between them anymore because she has the capacity to change it.

She wants the chance to be happy. She wants to risk it because being like this, being made a wreck while he blissfully goes about his life, is turning her into someone she doesn’t like anymore.

Her mum pours more hot water into her cup, watching her daughter with a quiet knowing eye, and the warmth seeps from Sonia’s hands through her bones. They continue to sip tea and munch on the treats before Anise looks at her watch. “It’s getting a bit late. Would you like to join your father and I for supper?”

It’s been a while since they’ve supped together and decides that it might be a nice balm on her wounds from the weekend. She agrees, and her mother goes off to buy a little bit more food for dinner. After she finishes the evening routine in the lab, she heads down to her parents’ house. Her mum has already finished making a hearty beef stroganoff, and Sonia brought a fresh loaf of cinnamon bread from Eisner’s Bakery with their homemade honey butter to go with. A tossed salad on the side – Mum tells Dad that he needs to watch his weight these days – and the meal tastes wonderful. It tastes like home, like someplace where people are proud of her for being _her_, where all the different facets of her life are taken as a whole rather than separate, unrelated masks.

The conversation is easy, talking about Dad’s job and Hop’s acceptance and _oh I do hope his mother throws him a party _and Gloria’s new initiative that’s aiming to help children from lower income households work with the region’s Gyms for job experience and Pokémon training and there’s a lot of things that are going on that has nothing to do with Sonia and it feels great to let go of herself and hear about other people.

As she goes home, carrying a bag of scraps for Yamper and some leftovers for herself, she feels both lighter and firmer than before. When he comes a-calling – _if_ he comes – Sonia will be ready.

She has to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (02/17/2020): So at the end of the day, Sonia chooses to be faithful to the dream - no matter how much it hurts. This is the road I intend to have her travel, and we will see it through.
> 
> ... But the truth is that this isn't the only way it could have gone, and it wasn't the first way I wrote this chapter. Check back on 02/19/20 to see what happens if Sonia chases a different dream.


	6. Risk-Taker, Change-Maker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. Initially written to be a one-shot introspective piece on Sonia's complicated relationship with Leon that has since spiraled out of my control.
> 
> Chapter 6: “I want to be in your life as a friend, as an equal, as someone who matters just as much as everything else you’ve got going on, and until I can make you see that, I don’t want these spontaneous meetings, these off-the-cuff dinners, the little rain checks that keep building up!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Musical Accompaniment: The Chain, by Ingrid Michaelson. I will occasionally come back to this song, since it is the theme of this story, but the part that really sticks with me is how bittersweet it is.

So even after all that mental psych-up, she is _not_ ready when he comes by on Thursday. Not to say that she wasn’t expecting him at all, simply that the conversations in her head usually began on Friday or Saturday, when he is more often freed from work. As such, she’s thrown off her game.

She is going about her business, starting to prepare for when the new Gym Challengers start to sign up and she’ll be getting notices about it. Every Challenger stops by her lab, no matter where in Galar they come from, and gets the updated pokédex app for their Rotom Phone. Some come early to see if she has any unclaimed eggs or baby Pokémon they can raise as a partner. However, it’s still another month before anyone should be coming by. And Hop is well into his field work, living it up if the pictures from his CamGram are anything to go by. He’s been sleeping in Pokémon Centers or on the Routes, and Sonia enjoys the private time; she has her favorite mix of music playing from Rotom and the speakers, and she can spend the time researching Alolan history and Pokémon along with tracking the Dynamax fluctuations in between the prep work for the Challengers.

So on that day, she momentarily pauses when she hears a sound not associated with her music. The front door? Someone knocking? Yamper’s at home today, so she doesn’t start barking at the door, which is often a sign that she’s got a visitor. She gets up from the kitchen table and her lunch to go answer it, fully expecting nothing but telling Rotom to pause regardless.

But he’s standing there, bright red against the blue sky, and it’s like his presence is a fist that threatens to knock her down.

“Hi, Sonia,” he starts, and his voice is softer than usual and his eyes are more of a fool’s gold than usual, lightening by the sun on his face while he holds his hat in his hands, and she can see that he looks uncomfortable as if he doesn’t like his own skin.

“Hi,” and the conversation with her mother comes rushing up to the front of her thoughts, and it’s like she’s on television with cue cards that are all mixed up because this wasn’t the time that she rehearsed, this wasn’t supposed to happen yet. For once, she doesn’t really know what to say.

“Can… can I come in?”

“Oh, uhm, yes,” and she steps inside and lets him pass by so she can shut the door. She has to say _something_ or the silence is going to suffocate them both. “I heard from Hop that you were going to stop by.”

“Yes, he was kind enough to carry the message to you. For some reason, I seem incapable of having a conversation with you on the phone.”

For some reason, the self-deprecation hits her the wrong way. _I don’t know what I need, but I don’t want you playing the ingenue now. _So she says something she thought she’d never say. “You’re incapable of a lot of things, including the simple act of keeping a promise.”

He literally rocks back; leans away from her like she’s suddenly grown needles from her skin that drip poison and bile. She channels Angry Jolteon energy. “So why are you here?”

She watches his mouth move without sound for a few moments before he finally says, “I owed you an apology for Saturday, and wanted to see if you had time today or tomorrow.”

She is going to dig into this question; she wants the answer to be the deepest truth before she can commit to telling him why she’s so angry and hurt. “But why are you _here?_ Why now? Why not Sunday? Or tomorrow?”

“I had time today, no meetings or anything scheduled-”

She has to keep going even though it’s like she’s tearing furrows into her skin with her nails. “So I’m convenient.”

“No!”

“You can’t even text to see if it’s convenient for _me_? It’s all about you, isn’t it? It’s always been this way,” and she lets the words fall out, lets the rot from old wounds stain the floor between them.

“Sonia, where is this coming from? I just wanted to visit–”

“On your terms!” she snarls. “Never decided together. I have to follow your lead, or I’m left behind. So guess what – I’m tired of it! I’m tired of being second fiddle to everything else in your life.”

“What are – Sonia, I-”

“I want to be in your life as a friend, as an equal, as someone who matters just as much as everything else you’ve got going on, and until I can make you see that, I don’t want these spontaneous meetings, these off-the-cuff dinners, the little rain checks that keep building up!”

He’s looking at her like she’s speaking another language and he can’t seem to process anything. She’s ripping the chains off the invisible door, and it’s just destroying the wall holding them in place. “I’m sorry I cancelled, I truly am-”

“You don’t get it! You don’t get why I’m so furious, and it’s my fault so I’m going to tell you!” and she strides up to him, grabs the lapels of his jacket with both hands, and pulls him down until his eyes are level with hers.

“I’m angry because my whole life has been spent watching you from a distance, hoping and praying that you would wake up one day with this magical realization and it’s never happened, and it will never happen unless I tell you, so I’m telling you now.”

And her heart is pounding a tempo that could snap violin strings as she swings that door open to give him a glimpse of what’s been hidden for so long.

“Leon Terrene, I love you like you can’t even imagine,” and it’s now, now it’s like she’s having an out-of-body experience, like she’s just possessed a Rotom and watching this conversation from a safe emotional distance, “I love you so much it hurts. I love you so much that every time you come and go all I want to do is grab onto you and beg you to stay. I have been in love with you since I was a little girl following you on the trials. And now I’m old and so fucking tired and I still love you and sometimes I think I’d rather die because _you don’t love me back_.”

She takes a breath and all the passion has seeped out of her like water from a rotting barrel, and she shuts that door, and lets the chains slide back into place as the dust settles in the air. Now she releases his jacket, and his eyes are wide like twin suns in the cloudless sky as he stares back at her. If he’d been dropped in a foreign city with no instructions on how to get home, he’d look less lost than he does right now.

“Until you understand just what I’ve said and what it means… you can’t be here. I can’t look at you and wonder when you’re going to leave me again.” She opens the lab door and makes a ‘you first’ gesture.

He takes two steps forward, gently takes her hand off the knob, and slams the door shut with all this strength. It shakes the whole lab. “No. No, I’m not leaving.”

“Yes you are. Now go.”

“No! That worked before but not this time!” and this might be the first time in their history that she’s ever seen him this mad as they face off against each other. “You cannot do this! You can’t tell me you’re in love with me, then kick me out!”

“I sure as hell can!”

“You can’t expect me to hear this and not want to talk to you!”

“I don’t want to talk to you! I don’t want to hear whatever you’re going to tell me right now!”

“Why not?”

“Because you can’t tell me you love me back – it would be such a lie that I’d slap you. And if you want to tell me that you don’t feel the same, I’d rather not be looking at you while it happens. I’ve cried plenty in front of other people these last five days, and I would rather die than let you see me like that.”

He’s dumbstruck by her words. “Sonia… how can you say that you love me and then say something so… horrible? I don’t understand.”

“I know you don’t. You can’t, not until you stop and think about what’s gone between us the last twenty years and realize that this love I feel has made me a horrible person, and I want to stop being this way.” She’s _this_ close to losing her composure but no, she’s strong and too proud and she’s digging crescents into her palms which is giving her something else to think about.

“So if you care about me, if you care about how much it took out of me to pour my heart into your hands and risk myself… you’ll go. And you’ll either come back when _I’m_ ready, or you’ll never come back again.”

He looks right into her eyes, gold against green, windows that they can’t open and ultimatums that could be a door or a wall. Time is sluggish and waiting for them to make a choice.

Finally, he whispers, “Fine. I’ll go for now… but I’ll be back.”

“You can’t say that with certainty.”

“No. I promise.”

She laughs, and it’s such an ugly sound he steps back. “You liar.”

He opens the door and, before stepping out, says to the air, “I’m sorry. I’ve made things like this, and I didn’t know.”

“Not just you. It’s my fault too, putting you on the pedestal of my own making… but I’m done with worshiping you when I’d rather be at your side.”

She sees the muscles of his jaw clenching, but he leaves and she can shut and lock the door. And she is shaking so badly that when she finally sits down she knocks her teacup over and spills it onto the floor. She then hits her head on the table as she’s cleaning up, and when she’s done she drops the cup into the sink and puts a tiny chip on the rim.

_Broken, never the same_, and Sonia can only look at the cup and think about the two friends she’s lost this week and she’ll probably never have again.

She also thinks about how untenable this situation has become, and she can’t do this anymore and there’s absolutely zero chance that he’s going to listen and not come back until _she_ wants to talk to him, no he’ll probably barge in within the next few days and she really _really_ cannot deal with that.

She needs to get out of here, fast. All of a sudden it’s like she’s got Joltik in her blood, Dewpiders crawling up her back, and she has to move or the walls will fall on her. But she can’t just ditch her lab, or her life. She can’t just leave like a 16-year-old on their challenge, she has to –

The inspiration hits her so hard that she drops the mug a second time, breaking a larger piece off and rendering it unusable. But this answer lightens her heart and might be the only way she can keep her sanity.

She glances around the lab, making a mental checklist of what needs daily care, to what needs care less frequently. No, it wouldn’t be too hard. It could work, but only if she has help.

She finds Rotom and asks it to call the only person in the whole damn country that can do what she needs done.

* * *

“So let me make sure I’ve got this straight,” Gloria says, Cinderace following her around the lab while Flapple makes itself comfortable on the desk. “The eggs need to have their temperatures monitored daily, so if I come in the morning and record it, that should be plenty. I don’t have to sit here all day – unless I want to, of course.”

“Yes. When one is about to hatch, the alarms will sound and you take it out of the incubators. The Pokémon should emerge by its own hand within two hours. Fortunately, I think all the eggs here have at least another two to three weeks to go so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Gloria nods. “Meanwhile, you’ll be carrying the Power Level tracker. But if there’s anything that looks unusual from my end, I should send you a message and you’ll go check it out.”

“Right. I can see stuff happening close by, but you can get a larger picture.”

The pretense she’s using as an explanation for why she’s going missing is to check out the Dynamax fluctuations in-person. It’s a great excuse, though not entirely untrue. Before Hop left, she had warned him to stay out of the Wild Area as much as possible. Now, she’s going to go and check it out in person; risking life and limb honestly sounds better than dealing with her critically ill love life. Fortunately for her, Gloria was available on a literal last-minute basis.

“Anything requests from me to return back to the lab will be treated as emergencies.”

“Yes, so I’m begging you to _not_ call with that request unless it is truly an emergency.”

“I think we can get by for a week or two without you.”

“I know you can. It’s why I called you.”

“I’m really flattered,” she grins, scratching Cinderace’s ears as it sits and stares at the Pokémon eggs. “But why didn’t you call Hop?”

“He’s in the middle of his project. I can’t pull him from that.”

“I’d make a smarmy comment about pulling me away from Champion work except that it’s going to be a lot of fun pretending to be you and I’m getting a little cabin fever from being me. And I can manage a lot of that stuff from anywhere in the country.”

“You won’t need to be here 24/7 so that should help. And I think my bribe is going to be worth your while.”

“Yeah, about that… can you finally tell me what it is?”

“Of course,” and Sonia pulls a pokéball out of a drawer in her desk. She gives it to Gloria. “Let me know if you like it.”

Slightly bemused, she releases the Pokémon, then lets out a shriek of delight.

“It’s a Snivy!” she says, then picks up the little Pokémon with all the joy of a new parent.

“Yes. I gave Hop a Tepig as a ‘keep-working-hard’ present-”

“He almost blew a gasket when he called and told me.”

“-and I’ve got the Oshawott saved for his graduation party. Don’t tell him that.”

“Of course not! When did you get these adorable little guys?” and now she’s tickling it under the chin and Snivy is now smitten with its new owner. Flapple flies up and the two of them rub snouts and trill at each other.

“I sent a request to the USoPM, trading a Scorbunny, Grookey, and Sobble to their school in return for these,” she says, giving the Snivy a tiny pat on the head before pulling back. “So, are you ready to be me for a while?”

“I’m super pumped,” and she throws her fist into the air with equal energy. “We’re gonna do our best!”

Sonia laughs. “I have no doubts about that. Just remember – I’m using Gran’s old Rotom so if you’re trying to get a hold of me, use her number. She gave it to all of four people in her life, so I don’t think anyone else can call. Here’s _my_ Rotom. Feel free to answer it obnoxiously for anyone – except maybe Kukui, though I think he would call the lab number.”

“Got it. And don’t tell anyone where you are or what you’re up to. In fact, the more ridiculous the excuse, the better.”

“Absolutely. I will text you every day at 9AM and 9PM. If I’m late by more than 5 minutes, give me a call. If I don’t answer, assume the worst and come looking for me. I’ll have a tracker on my backpack and Gran’s Rotom.”

“This is very hush-hush secretive, isn’t it? A bit of a spy movie feel to the whole thing.”

“A bit, yes. But I guarantee that there will be at least two people who will demand to know where I am. Put your Champion foot down and refuse to comply.”

Gloria grins, all spice and life and stubborn energy. “I can definitely do that.”

And now Sonia gives her a huge hug, careful not to squish the Snivy but trying to emanate the gratitude she feels deep down in her soul into her young friend. “You’re a treasure. Thank you again for doing this.”

“From what I’ve heard through the feeds and streams, there’s been some drama between you, Leon, and Raihan. I’d run away from those problems, too, if I could. Speaking of which, you best be on your way. Who knows if someone might come a-calling.”

Sonia takes the hint. She packs her backpack with her old tent, cookware, a parka, and some new ingredients for curry-making. She sets them on Gloria’s borrowed bike… and has to get used to the feeling of six pokéballs on her hips again as she takes a seat.

_Just like the old days. _But her outfit is much sportier than it was twenty years ago, with her hair tucked in a bun under a gray scally cap to hide the color. She’s got a yellow and purple Electric-style tracksuit pants and jacket with a simple gray tee underneath. Hidden beneath the cuff is her Dynamax Band, with the strap recently exchanged so it looks brand new and fits like a glove. She looks nothing like Professor Magnolia, and more like a Sonia that decided to follow through on her dreams of being a Pokémon Master.

“Thanks, Gloria. When I come back, I’ll pay you well.”

“We can talk about that when you come back. Good luck, Sonia. I hope you find what you’re looking for,” Gloria says, waving goodbye from the stoop.

“Me too,” and before she can think too much about this, Sonia hops on the bike and rides off down the road toward the train station. She buys a ticket, enjoys an uneventful train ride, and gets off at Motostoke. She immediately books it towards the south… and the Wild Area.

She places her old Gym Challenger badge on her jacket, all eight facets shining together, and feels her confidence rise as she rides down towards the Motostoke Riverbank. When a Liepard runs at her bike, she immediately falls into a battle stance and pulls her favorite Pokémon out.

“Come out, Yamper!”

She hops up and down for a moment before realizing they’re in a battle. Then she lets out a growl that Sonia orders to become a Thunderbolt. The difference in level is far and away in Yamper’s favor, and the Liepard faints before it can get close enough to attack.

“Good job, my girl,” Sonia coos. “I think we’re going to be just fine.”

* * *

The first night she spends is in Bridge Field, where the weather is temperate and comfortable in comparison to the Riverbank or the Stony Wilderness. She pitches the tent and invites everyone to come out and play.

It has literally been years since she’s seen some of these friends. Toxtricity comes out to happily chase a ball with Yamper, while Dracozolt floats around the tent flap hoping to find a pot of curry hidden inside. Lapras and Shiftry are having some kind of conversation, given the trills and growls that sound friendly, and Gardevoir appears to be dancing to some unheard music.

Sonia sets up the large frying pot and begins gathering berries to toss with the cream. Yeah, today’s meal will be a treat. It’s been too long since they’ve done this, and all of them deserve something sweet. As she fans the fire, with that _just right_ sense of the heat, she can hear the interest of Lapras and Gardevoir as they hover around. Stirring the pot, with its associated clinking, has garnered both Toxtricity and Yamper’s attention, and by the time she’s put all of her heart into the meal all six are sitting impatiently and waiting to eat.

The meal is divine, and the cheerful sounds of her Pokémon eating and “talking” remind Sonia why she did this in the first place. Not because she needed to have powerful Pokémon – though she certainly tried, given her desire to become the Champion – but to have this bond and camaraderie with some of the most important people in her life.

“Hey guys,” she says, and it’s so weird that the words get caught in her chest even though the Pokémon don’t completely understand her. “I’m sorry I was gone for so long. I hope… I hope you don’t think that I was disappointed in you after we lost. I was always really proud of you. Really proud for going as far as we did. The Semi-Finalist Gym Challenger of ’00 – that was all you.”

The Pokémon swarm her, as best they can at least, causing her to tumble gracelessly to the ground. But their energy is so happy and infectious that Sonia can’t help but smile and laugh and offer them the loving touches she should have been giving them the past twenty years.

She can’t fix the past, but she can fix her present. That’s what these next two weeks are about, anyway.

* * *

So, Gloria is a saint.

In response to Sonia’s 9PM text every night, she sends a photo of a handwritten list of all the people who asked to talk to or visit with Sonia. Leon tops the list, no surprise, though she sees Raihan, Nessa, and all the other Gym Leaders scattered in from time to time. Her parents are usually mentioned benignly, with her mum calling every day to make sure all is well. Hop pops up a few times, but she assumes the interest is secondary to making sure that Gloria is doing well. But Sonia is grateful that Gloria has such a good sense of humor about it, because she can only shake her head at how painfully pigheaded everyone seems to be.

Especially after she gets a text from Gloria on Saturday.

Gloria: **Thought I’d let you know that a certain ex-Champion is flying his Charizard over the Wild Area. I’d hunker down if I were you**.

Phenomenal job, going above and beyond the call of duty. Gloria deserves a dozen Wishing Stars. So Sonia rests in part of the Dusty Bowl, using an impromptu Sandstorm to hide her location while also taking shelter beneath the bridge. It gives her time to go through the info in Gran’s Rotom to see if the pattern of Dynamax is becoming more evident. Alas, nothing this early on. She emerges an hour later, and when she leaves the Dusty Bowl, there is no one in the sky. The rest of her day passes easily.

She is pleased when Gloria texts her about Kukui, and Sonia decides she’s going to have to call him while she’s out and about. They have another talk, this one much shorter, and the prospect of coming to Alola is more thoroughly sussed out. It can’t happen in the next six months, given how close the Gym Challenge is coming up, but it is certainly a possibility near the end of the year. She promises to bring a Wishing Star and footage of some Dynamax events.

In order to get some meaningful videos, however, she also gets back into the swing of fighting in Dynamax battles, partly because she needs to have that capability in case Gloria lets her know about any fluctuations, but also because she misses the challenge. She starts joining them anonymously with other trainers, and is thrilled to catch a Gigantamax Centiskortch at one point. She retires Shiftry to give herself a chance to try a new Pokémon in her rotation; it can learn both Crunch and Power Whip, which is a pleasant surprise, and she kind of gets why Kabu is such a fan of fire after using it.

She also takes the time to ask Yamper how she feels about evolving; her level is – and has been – high enough to evolve into a Boltund. Sonia always left the choice up to her Pokémon, who generally jumped at the chance to get more powerful, but Yamper remained her adorable butt-wiggling self. She imagines the answer will be the same as before.

But after one particularly harrowing battle against a high-level Drednaw, Rotom beeps as it senses the level-up in Yamper, and Sonia watches as her favorite Pokémon starts running around in a frantic circle and throwing up sparks and shocks. She puts her hand out to soothe Yamper, who dodges away from the touch. Instead, she rolls on the ground as if trying to put out a fire on her fur. She seems to be a mix of anxious and excited, and it’s making Sonia nervous. She heals up her Pokémon, and when they sit for dinner that night, she puts _just_ a little more effort than usual into making it as good as she can. If she could throw her physical heart into it, she would so that Yamper could feel better.

It helps but doesn’t fix the problem, and she’s still flailing about which is making all the other Pokémon more edgy than usual. So Sonia steels herself up for what she’s got to do as she watches her poor pup run herself ragged.

She half-hugs, half-tackles Yamper to the ground, and grits her teeth and tries not to scream as an electric current runs from Yamper into her, setting her fingers and arms on fire. “Yamper,” she says as softly as possible, “Yamper, it’s okay. You can do whatever you want. If you want to stay Yamper, or if you want to evolve, I’m always going to love you as my first Pokémon.”

Yamper stops moving, stops resisting. And when Sonia slowly lets her go, she begins to glow. The change is so fast that she doesn’t have any time to mentally prepare herself for what’s about to happen.

Her happy-go-lucky Yamper is now a sleek, beautiful Boltund, and she couldn’t be prouder. “You were holding back all those years for me, weren’t you?” Sonia asks as she pets Boltund’s head. “Thank you, my good girl, my bestest girl. I’m ready to change, too.”

But first – first aid! She has a smattering of electrical burns on her hands, and that’s going to make it troublesome to do her work. She resigns herself to heading into Motostoke; she’s closer to it, and Kabu hasn’t been pestering her this week as much as Raihan.

She hits up one of the emergency departments and gets her hands checked out. She’s got first degree burns over parts of her palms and up her arms, but then-Yamper must have had enough control to prevent a larger shock to Sonia’s heart (which is good, or she’d be dead). They clean the burns before wrapping her hands and giving her a tiny bottle of pain medications with some more disposable bandages.

Sonia decides to bunk at the Budew Drop Inn to spare herself the work of cooking and pitching a tent for tonight. If her hands are still too tender to use after she wakes up… well, save tomorrow’s troubles for tomorrow.

She wakes up in the morning and her hands still hurt but she is a functional human being and can withstand a shower at the very least. She rewraps her hands and arms, and is satisfied with the protection they afford. Time to get back to work! Holding the bike handles hurts a bit, but she rides sedately enough to make it a non-issue.

Before she knows what happened, a full week has since passed since she ditched her work and Sonia is coming to two conclusions. One – based on Gloria’s updates, Leon may actually be figuring out that what Sonia wants is to be respected as an equal, not treated like a child who should come home when Dad calls, and two – she’s had a thought about the Dynamax phenomenon that is picking at the scientist in her. It could explain a lot of things, and maybe help prevent another Darkest Day. Gloria won’t be around forever, and at some point Eternatus could escape again. The problem is that the one person who can help her is someone she would rather not talk to. And getting to that person is going to be a big problem. She should let it go and go home.

But… this is one of the few things in her life that has nothing to do with Leon or Raihan or any romantic relationships. This passion is pure Sonia, and she will run herself into the ground to see it through.

_So… let’s run_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (02/24/2020): FINALLY! A proper confession... that then goes completely off the rails. Because of course I have to drag this out.
> 
> So after some self-reflection, I have come to the conclusion that I need a beta reader. If there is anyone out there who likes my story enough to help me make sure it's as good as it can get, I'd be happy to talk with you.
> 
> Also, I've been updating on a fairly regular weekly basis, but that's going to stop next week. I need a break to write more, and I have some family things that I need to take care of. I should be back with a new chapter in 2 weeks.


	7. Behind Ice, Beneath Stone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. Initially written to be a one-shot introspective piece on Sonia's complicated relationship with Leon that has since spiraled out of my control.
> 
> Chapter 7: “Sonia, Gloria, it’s me! Where are you two? I saw the video – Hop sent it to me – are you two okay? Call me back. Please call me back, Sonia, just… just tell me you’re okay. Please.”
> 
> He sounds like he’s worried, and nervous, and he sounds like a man who’s seen something in a nightmare and there’s no one around to tell him it’s not real except this is and he sounds afraid.
> 
> The man who stood up to Rose, who fought Eternatus and weakened it enough for Gloria to catch, is afraid for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No musical accompaniment at this time.
> 
> Many thanks to my beta-reader DezyPhresh for giving me a hand with this chapter and keeping me focused.

Circhester is not really one of her favorite places to visit, but she can appreciate the beauty of the perpetual winter. Even though people are still moving and shuffling through the snow, Sonia enjoys the peaceful quiet that falls blanket-soft around her shoulders.

But behind its gentle veneer is the secret knowledge that Circhester is not a soft place to live, a truth built of rock and ice and the strength of mountains that live in their backyard. At the base of the range, secretly accessible through the back of the stadium, is a path that leads to an imposing edifice that is built right into the wall of the nearest mountain.

“Are you certain you want to do this?” Melony asks as they walk together down the path. For once, Gordie had been happy to defer this responsibility to his mother.

“I have some questions that need answers, and I think he’ll have them.”

Her expression is colored with icy distrust. “It is possible he won’t give you anything helpful.”

“Or maybe I’ll gain the answers to secrets of Gigantamaxing and Galar particles.”

A tiny gasp. “I’d always assumed Prof- your grandmother had been the source of those answers, and that she’d leave them behind.”

“Not as far as I know, and I’ve read literally every book in the house and lab. But this could be it,” and now they’re standing in front of an imposing door made of reinforced steel. Melony takes off her glove and lays it against the touch screen, and the door unlocks itself. They enter an antechamber with one door going in and the other leading outside. Two soldiers open the inside door, flanked by an Aegislash and a Lucario.

“Officer Talus,” and the two men salute her. “We received your communication. Is this the Professor?”

“Yes, this is Professor Sonia Magnolia. I am vouching for her.”

“Please state your business, ma’am,” and now they look at Sonia.

She takes a deep breath. “I’m here to speak with Prisoner Rose.”

They nod. “This agrees with the request placed by Officer Melony Talus, Custodial Manager of the Mount Circhester Prison of Galar. Please step inside and follow our requests.”

They step into the first entry room, and Sonia divests herself of her jacket, hat, bag, and pokéballs. The last makes her extremely nervous, but she complies because she has no choice but to do so. It’s comfortable inside, so she’s not cold, but the energy from the rock make it feel as though her hair has turned to icicles and is now dripping down the back of her neck.

“I will wait here,” and Melony steps through a locked door to sit behind the metal counter as Sonia walks through more of the prison. She doesn’t go very far, and the way the walls arch over her combined with the minimal lightning to make her feel insignificant and trapped almost makes her pity the life that the now-former chairman must be living.

She doesn’t perseverate on the thought as they bring her into a room with a desk embedded into the wall, and a window that she can look through. On the side is a Rotom connected to another Rotom on the other side. She can see through the window that he’s already waiting for her.

For a man who has been in prison for 5 years, Rose still hold himself with an air of dignity. He is thinner and grayer but looks no less canny. There are two soldiers standing behind him, and the two with Sonia stand behind her as she picks up the Rotom with a shaking hand that she wills to be calm. He picks it up upon seeing her move, and she sees that his hands are cuffed together.

“Professor Magnolia.”

His voice is so calm and kind, but the way he says her name makes her think of hidden razors at her neck. “Rose.”

“To what do I owe the honor of a visit from you?”

“I was hoping you’d be able to answer some questions I have about Eternatus and the energy crisis.”

“Oh?” and he raises an eyebrow. “You are interested in correcting the crisis?”

“I’m more interested in controlling the sudden outpouring of Galar particles across the country. It hasn’t slowed over the past five years, and it’s been… a problem.” She isn’t sure how much to tell the man, but this seems like a simple thing to give away.

“An unfortunate event. However, the use of Galar particles as our energy source makes that a rather acceptable side effect. Unless, you’d rather take away the power for millions of Galarians and remove the sport of Dynamaxing.”

She was afraid of this answer but tries to keep a poker face and goes in a different direction. “This happened because you released Eternatus. Before that, this wasn’t an issue. What kept it so well shielded that it couldn’t release this much energy?”

“I’m afraid I cannot answer that question, Professor Magnolia,” he says, sounding warm but regretful. “Not for lack of knowledge, but for lack of motivation. I admit that my interest in fixing that problem is non-existent.”

“_Is_ there some way to motivate you?”

“At this time, no. There is nothing you can offer me that is worth such answers.”

“So you can’t tell me where you found it? How you found it? Where it’s been?”

“Nothing, my dear professor.”

This trip is turning into a loss, but she has one last idea on her mind. “Do you know the trigger for inducing Gigantamaxing into normal Dynamax Pokémon? Can Eternatus do it?”

Now he looks intrigued. “Interesting thought – I do not believe that question was examined prior to waking up Eternatus. One would assume that it has the capability of doing so, but I lay no claim to any empiric experience.”

Sonia absorbs the answers, minimal though they might be. She realizes she’s been silent, and he’s been waiting for a response. “Then… thank you for your time.”

“You are quite welcome. It was a pleasure to speak with you and now, if I may, offer my regards for the loss of your grandmother. Brilliant, she was. Unceasing well of knowledge on Pokémon and the Dynamax phenomenon.”

“Thank you,” she says, and the words are false and dry and bitter but she does not have an interest in antagonizing him even if he is in prison and away from her thoughts.

“I’m also pleased to hear that you have taken up her mantle. You always were such a bright girl, and now the newest Galar professor. I have read your book a few times but could not offer my impressions until now.”

“Oh?”

“Quite well written. Fascinating information about the Legendary Heroes and Darkest Day. You have done quite a lot of research, and so impressively done. Meta-commentary provided by those two ruffians causing rampant Dynamaxing in their wrath simply makes it much more enjoyable.”

“… Thank you again.”

“You know, Professor, there is someone else that you can speak with about this issue, if it keeps you up at night.”

“Oleana?”

“Leon.”

She feels the mountain shift beneath her chair. “What do you mean?”

“I spoke with him at length about Eternatus, though he may not have known at that time. It is entirely possible that he would remember much of the conversation. Or, perhaps, nothing at all. For such a smart young man, he was quite narrow-minded and short-sighted, and may have completely removed the memory of those talks from his mind. I imagine that you, of all people, may be able to tease some of the information out of him.”

_Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit_

She swallows hard and uses the moment to take control of herself. “I… appreciate your assistance.”

“I hope you come back to visit again. I’d like to know what you decide to do.”

“Goodbye.”

She’s not scared of him, not the way she’s been scared of rampaging Dynamax Pokémon, but the idea of coming back to chat with him makes her feel like she’d be walking into a trap. She just hangs up while he watches, then keeps enough of her cool to walk (not run) back to the main office and Melony.

“My goodness, child,” she says, standing up and coming around, “you’re white as a Snom! What happened?”

“Nothing. He didn’t do anything. But he wasn’t very helpful either.”

Now she looks sympathetic. “I’m sorry you wasted your time coming here. Let’s be gone. Thank you, Captain Serac.”

The captain salutes her, followed by the other soldiers, and the duo depart after Sonia gets her things.

“What did you ask about?”

“The Galar particle overload issue. If there’s any way to stem the flow and prevent more accidental Dynamax events.”

“That is no small question.”

“Considering it’s his fault, I felt that he should be able to provide insight. Unfortunately, he wasn’t motivated to talk with me.”

“What a shame that such a great man could do such a thing,” she sighs, shaking her head. “He shows no remorse, though he is a model prisoner.”

They walk back to Circhester in silence, and Sonia rolls the words from Rose around in her head.

_“You, of all people”_

_Why would Rose think that I could get Leon to remember something?_

_It can’t be that surprising – he must know we’re friends_

_All of this may be nothing more than a ploy to get you upset, or throw Leon off-balance_

_But I don’t want to talk with Leon about this_

_You care enough about this subject to talk to a convicted terrorist_

_I just can’t talk to him right now_

_ Don’t lie to yourself about what you can and can’t do_

_…I want to talk to him about _us_. About him, and me, and if we could ever fit together. But I can’t call him about the Galar particle overload because that has nothing to do with _our_ problem_

_ Do you want to do it now? Call him?_

_No! I will not let Rose be the catalyst for this. I need some time_

_ You’ve taken a full seven days. Gloria’s free time can only hold out another five. Better think fast_

_Fine. Then… tomorrow_

_ You’re certain_

_Yes. I’ll get some rest, eat a good meal… and then I will go home tomorrow and call him_

It’s like her brain is finally satisfied with the answer. She stops arguing with herself and turns to Melony as they enter the stadium’s main entrance hallway “Thank you for helping me. It was a huge favor.”

“Of course, Sonia. Anything for our region’s Professor. Let me know if I can help with anything more.”

“Right now, I think I just need to sort things out.”

“Good luck with that. And good luck with Leon.”

She blinks. She’s been so thrown off these past two weeks that she may as well carry a Pidove feather for getting knocked over. “What did you hear?”

Melony pulls her onto one of the couches in the main entrance. “You gave him quite a declaration of love. Threw him for such a loop, apparently. He never knew?”

Sonia shakes her head, unable to make words.

“Foolish man, to ignore what is so blatantly written in the stones. Alas, things have snowballed out of control, and he got himself into a fight with Raihan.”

“What?!” and her stomach is tight with fear because while she may be in love with Leon, she has no interest in seeing Raihan get hurt.

“Quite an impressive one. No one knows what they said, but it must have been serious enough to lead to a Pokémon battle in Hammerlocke Stadium this past Monday. Leon won, though Raihan managed to beat his Charizard, which has never happened before. The two men haven’t shared a word since, not even at our Monthly Leadership Meeting.”

The only thing Sonia can do is cover her face with her hands. Things couldn’t possibly be any worse – which, of course, means that Melony is about to drop a bomb on her.

“He picked a fight with Nessa at that meeting, which bodes well for no man, and where the rest of us found out about the fight, since she had been the referee for that battle. That was two days ago, and now you and Leon are quite a regular subject in our shared chat.”

“I just wanted time to myself. Time to figure out where I fit in this whole mess of our not-relationship,” and she gestures to everything and nothing in particular. “How the hell can he take something that’s supposed to be between us involve everyone else in the goddamn region?”

Melony lets her silently stew in this frustration for a few minutes before saying, “Would you like to stay the night here?”

“In Circhester?”

“With my family. We’d be happy to have you and get your mind off such things.”

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m sure Gordie has already mentioned that I’m here. I’d rather not be around when Leon comes by – because I’m sure he will be.”

She handles the rebuff very gracefully. “Well, when all is said and done, you are still welcome to come by for a visit. I, for one, would love to hear some of your stories. And perhaps we can compare the strengths of our Lapras.”

“You… I didn’t battle you before, did I?”

“No, but I think it would be fun, wouldn’t you?” and there’s a delightful twinkle in her eye.

It wouldn’t be for any badge, but the idea makes Sonia feel young again. “Then, I’ll look forward to coming back when I’m done with this.”

“Then, take care, Sonia. Ride safely!”

She heads out and decides to take Flying Taxi back into the Wild Area rather than fight with the maze or the frozen river and Spikemuth. And, after she and her Pokémon are settled in for the night, she texts Gloria per nightly routine and is rewarded with a message.

Gloria: **Melony sent you a text. Said, ‘You were on the nose. He came by not two hours later. Sent on his merry way with a pep talk’**

Sonia: **Thanks, Gloria**

Gloria: **What did you do today that you saw Melony?**

Sonia: **Went to visit Rose at the Prison, and had to go through her first**

The Rotom immediately rings, and after Sonia picks up Gloria yells, “What the good goddamn hell is wrong with you?!”

“Hi, Gloria.”

“You went to see a dangerous criminal _in prison?_ Why didn’t you call me to go with?”

“First, because you have duties that are more important. Second, he’s in prison. He can’t hurt us.”

“You don’t know that! You don’t know what he can do!”

For all her strength, Gloria still bears scars from the Darkest Day. Sonia has heard Hop wake up screaming for his brother or Gloria on more than one occasion while he was still in her house. It breaks her heart to think they’re both so affected by such a heartless man’s thoughtless action.

“I’m fine, Gloria. I promise,” and she steels herself to ask this question. “Do you want me to come back to the lab? Are you there?”

“No, I’m at home in Wyndon. Just… don’t do that again. Please.”

“I went with Melony, if it makes you feel better.”

“Oh. Good.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Do you want me to come to Wyndon?”

The silence stretches on for a good ten seconds, and Sonia’s made up her mind. “I’ll be there in a half-hour.”

“Thanks,” she whispers.

When she arrives at the Champion’s Home – a cottage built near the Wyndon Stadium, oddly peaceful for its proximity to such a raucous building – Gloria is already in her pyjamas and flings herself at Sonia as she opens the door.

“I’m so sorry, Sonia, I didn’t mean to make you do this,” she natters on. “But after you said that I got this awful vision of the Energy Plant, and how he looked after he beat Hop and when he was fighting me, and I saw Leon on the ground on the roof and it all just hit me at once.”

Sonia pets her hair to smooth away the fear, but Gloria is a sapling that shakes in the autumn night, stiff branches and falling leaves. “It’s all right. Really. Let me make you something hot for bedtime.”

She releases Boltund, who takes it upon herself to cuddle up with Gloria while Sonia warms some milk with honey and spices.

“I didn’t know you evolved Yamper.”

“It’s been a secret. Don’t tell anyone.”

“I’m impressed,” and she rubs Boltund’s head. “You look very strong and brave! Are you taking good care of Sonia?”

Boltund barks, then licks Gloria’s face. A laugh, a warming of the chill as Sonia brings the mug.

“Thank you. Rude of me not to be taking care of you in my own house….”

“Friends don’t worry about those things,” she gently reminds Gloria as she sits down.

They let the quiet fall over them, an evening mist that’s warm from friendship, and Gloria finishes the drink before going into the bedroom with eyes that have begun to glaze over. Sonia silently sends Boltund into the room with her, and after Gloria collapses into bed the pup lays herself right at the Champion’s feet for an equally deep sleep.

But when Sonia lays on the couch in her sleeping bag, she comes to a single conclusion that doesn’t like but knows it the right one.

Tomorrow, she’s going to see Leon.

* * *

Easier said than done, mostly because Sonia is very purposefully procrastinating the conversation.

Gloria wakes up in a good mood though still a touch fragile, so Sonia stays to eat breakfast with her. It’s Saturday and the world still sleeps as the two of them cook up a meal for themselves and their Pokémon. They talk about how Snivy’s been adjusting and Sonia’s new Centiskortch before getting to the nitty-gritty details. Sonia very purposefully keeps the conversation away from her and Leon’s disaster of a relationship; Gloria follows suit.

“I should take my Rotom back,” Sonia sighs. “It was quite nice having the undisturbed time to myself, but I best go back to being Professor Magnolia again.”

“I can give you an extra day if you want,” Gloria offers, genuine as a newly found pearl. “I don’t mind.”

But she shakes her head, and Gloria hands it back. “I don’t know if Leon’s taken what I said to heart, but I have to take my responsibilities back. That also includes some things that you, the Champion of Galar, might want to hear about.”

While Sonia may see herself mirrored against Hop, she can very easily see herself in Gloria. Wearing masks of a professional, a Pokémon trainer, a friend, a would-be-lover to a Terrene brother… it’s almost disquieting to watch the change from a happy-go-lucky 21-year-old to the very focused, unyielding guardian of her region.

Sonia explains that the Dynamax issue may not be solved in their lifetime, especially since the rise in particle numbers may be tied to the presence of Eternatus. Even with it trapped in a pokéball, its passive existence outside the meteorite might be enough to increase the Galar particle level. It’s possible that Rose either a) has answers that he’s not willing to divulge, or b) is completely bullshitting them. It’s also possible that Leon has answers, but equally possible that he does not remember the conversations, or (again) Rose is full of so much shit that his eyes are going to turn from green to brown.

The other thing is an idea that Sonia has, and decides to bring it up.

“How do you feel about doing something dangerous?”

Gloria looks thoughtful. “Can this wait until Monday? I have a very boring meeting that I would rather miss out on, and death-defying Pokémon battles would make a fabulous excuse.”

Sonia starts howling with laughter, but soon calms down as the gravity of the question starts to hit her. “Would you be willing to do some experimenting with Eternatus?”

Now Gloria sits back in her chair, crossing her arms and letting out a deep breath. “How angry do you think the lads are going to be when they hear about this?”

“Which ones? Hop? Leon?”

“All of them.”

“Probably quite angry.”

A moment to reflect, and they start to clean up. Sonia takes a shower, then starts packing while Gloria washes up. She comes out, not in her usual Champion outfit, but something more casual and subtle – a faded green sweatshirt, jeans, sunglasses, and a gray snapback.

“Fuck it, I’m in. When and where?”

So now Sonia and Gloria are in the Giant’s Seat as the place for this adventure, as it’s the farthest point from any town or train tracks so the damage control will be minimal. They’ve picked a Den that’s about as far east as possible, and Gloria juggles her pokéball while Sonia sets up the Rotom phones to record the results. No other trainer is around, which is helped by Sonia’s Lapras and Gloria’s Gyarados keeping everyone away from them.

“I mean, if I haven’t made Hop mad, then I’m just not living my life,” Gloria says nonchalantly. Sonia knows that’s such a boldfaced lie she doesn’t even bother to do more than smile patiently as she sets up the two Rotom.

“You two will have plenty of chances to make each other mad. Hopefully the make-up sex is good.”

“It is!” and then she blinks. “I suppose I should have kept that to myself.”

Sonia looks to the sky, trying so damn hard not to laugh. “Have you two made it official? That you’re a ‘thing’?”

Gloria rubs the back of her neck. “I want to. Hop’s worried because he’ll be gone so long that he doesn’t want to keep me waiting. Not like he hasn’t made me wait already, the arse.”

A chuckle from both women, but then she continues. “I think he’s afraid I’ll find someone else while he’s gone.”

“You don’t think you will.” It’s not a question.

“I can’t imagine being with anyone but Hop. He’s…,” and her voice is softer than a Cottonee, “He’s the last thought before I fall asleep. He’s the dream I want to wake up to every morning. He’s _mine_ in a way no one else could ever be. I’d rather be alone than with someone who isn’t him.”

The rawness of her words makes Sonia think of broken ribs, cracked cartilage, a caved-in chest wall on top of an unbeating heart. “Do you think _he_ wants someone else?”

“No,” she says, but it sounds sad. “I think he may want some_thing_ else.”

_What could Hop want more than Gloria?_ Then she makes the obvious connection. “You’re worried that he may want to stay in Unova or Kanto when he’s done.”

“It’s not unreasonable.”

A shake of her head. “Time will just have to tell. I wish I could forsee the future for you two, but if wishes were stars….”

“They’d fall to the ground,” Gloria finishes, rubbing her hand against her Dynamax Band. “Speaking of which, shall we get started?”

Sonia takes a step back from the setup, satisfied with its stability. She pulls the Power Level tracker out and sets it to the side so that one of the Rotom can record its fluctuations as the experiment progresses. They have both been given instructions, which she expects they will follow through.

“Yes. Let’s review one last time.”

“You’re going to release a Pokémon into the Den, and I will release Eternatus. Then we’ll see if Eternatus can voluntarily make a Pokémon Dynamax.”

“And if it can do that, then we’ll see if it can induce the Gigantamax phenomenon.”

Now Gloria grins, and her look is the same that Leon would wear whenever he was gearing up for a Championship battle. “I can’t wait.”

“Me neither,” and Sonia pulls out a pokéball. “Go on, little Delibird. Jump on in.”

She’d caught it a day ago, just for the fun of it, and it doesn’t seem to realize how many hopes and theories are pinned on its existence right now. All it does is hop into the hole and walk all the way to the bottom, and Sonia watches the Galar particles start to stir under its feet when she tosses a Wishing Piece right after it.

“Come on our, Eternatus.”

Gloria tosses the ball, and the black-bone Dragon comes out with a roar. Sonia instinctively steps back, but all Gloria does is hold up her hand and it touches her palm with its “face”. It is mind-boggling how at ease she seems to be with the creature.

“Eternatus, can you stop it from Dynamaxing?” and she points to the Delibird, and the way the light is starting to spiral upwards.

The creature swirls over their head, a lazy rowboat in the ocean of a sky. But as Sonia watches, she can see it start to absorb the energy until the Wishing Piece has disappeared, the Den has quieted down, and the Delibird is left standing there stupidly waiting for something to happen.

“Wonderfully done,” Sonia breathes out. “So it can stop the Dynamax phenomena by devouring the particles.”

But then Gloria jumps in, grabs the Delibird and pulls it out of the Den before plopping it on the grass next to her. “Can you make it Dynamax now? Without help from the Den?”

This is… unplanned, but Sonia doesn’t stop it. What if it works?

A moment of thought, tail waving in the breeze, before it opens its jaws and shoots the Delibird with a thin beam of purple light. Gloria barely jumps back in time, and Sonia snatches up the wildly flashing Power Level tracker as the two Rotom move to record everything.

But the Delibird isn’t knocked out; instead, Sonia watches in slow-motion as it starts to glow and shine, growing bigger and bigger until there’s a Dynamax Delibird standing on the thumb of an island and the two women have been pushed back for their own safety.

“You did it!” and Gloria claps and cheers. “You Dynamaxed a Pokémon outside of a Den! You are a very clever dragon!”

Eternatus lets out another roar, though it sounds different this time; less like a bite and more like a crow of pride.

The final question, and she asks, “Can you turn it into a Gigantamax Delibird?”

It must be bolstered by all the praise because it spins around for a moment before absorbing some Galar particles from the air (and it is the _weirdest_ thing to see that even Gloria and Sonia herself have some that lift right off their skin and clothes), and the beam isn’t the usual purple-pink, but white-yellow with a hint of red threading through that gets shot right into the Delibird and absorbed into its body. The Pokémon doesn’t seem to mind, but they watch in real time as it starts to morph. The feathers on its head turn into a red stocking cap with a white tuft on the end, and a jacket and pants start to sprout over its body. It’s bag, normally dragging on the ground, is now hefted over its shoulder and bulging with unseen gifts while a long beard of feathers grows around its beak and chin to drag against the ground like a giant scarf.

Finally, Eternatus has had enough, and it gently floats to the ground at Gloria’s feet. She wordlessly hands it a berry, which it eats before going off to play with Gyarados and Lapras.

The two women look at each other, then up at the never-before-seen Gigantamax Delibird.

“It did it,” Sonia finally says.

“Yeah. It did.” Her face breaks into a huge grin, and she lets out a wild child laugh. “This is an amazing discovery, isn’t it?”

“It was just a guess on my part… but we were right. It can turn Pokémon into Gigantamax forms!”

The Delibird lets out an annoyed sound, clearly asking them ‘are we done yet?’, which cuts right through both of their ears and they clap their hands over their heads. “Ow! Best catch it again!” Gloria yells over the noise.

“Right!” and Sonia grabs its pokéball, turns it into a Dynamax ball, and throws it back at the Delibird. It goes right back inside, shrinks, and comes to a rest. She picks it up, puts it in her bag, then grabs Gloria’s hands. “We did it!”

They dance and jump and sing to themselves, delighted by the discovery and oh-so-proud of their ingenuity. They whip up a giant batch of curry, both happily fanning and stirring the meal, and reward all their Pokémon with an incredible lunch. No one goes hungry, and not a bite of food is left in the pot.

Finally, they sit back and take a moment to reflect.

“So now that we know Eternatus can cause both Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing, what do we do?” Gloria asks.

“I think we best keep this between us for the moment. It would be a problem is someone wanted to take Eternatus or try to do you harm in the name of their own self-interest.”

“Should I put it away?”

Sonia herself wouldn’t want to carry the ball around even if it was nested in a dozen pokéballs, but Gloria seems unaffected. “If you want.”

“I think it’s been awfully lonely these past millennia. I’ll keep it with me for a bit longer.” She pauses a moment before asking, “Can I tell Hop?”

The unspoken secondary question _Should I tell Leon_ follows in its tracks. “They are going to be more than a little tiffed if we don’t tell them,” Sonia reasons out. “But on the other hand, there is nothing we are going to do with this information right now. And the fewer people that know, the safer the knowledge will be.”

“Maybe we can keep it to ourselves, and then tell them after we’ve done a few more experiments. Or after we’ve decided what to do with this information.”

Gloria nods in satisfaction. “Hop is too busy to care, and if you don’t tell Leon, then I won’t either. Speaking of the Impidimp…,” and she gets a sly look in her eyes, “do you want to hear about what happened last week?”

“I am terrified of the answer, but yes.”

“He stopped by Friday, Saturday, _and_ Sunday, and he blew up your Rotom at least twice a day.”

“Did it peter off later this week?”

“A bit. After the fight with Raihan – did you hear about that?”

“From Melony. Not all the details, but enough that I can imagine what the fight was about.”

“Which is…?”

“You saw the pictures of us at the club, right?” A nod. “Raihan asked me out that night. I turned him down.”

Gloria puts two and two together. “Leon was jealous? Or thought Raihan did something else?”

She lifts her shoulders in a helpless shrug. “We’ve all been friends for so long, and that’s the only thing that’s happened between us recently.”

“Well, after the fight he only texted at night. Last Sunday brought the brilliant idea to go scouting for you, too, but since you’re here and not with him, I can assume it didn’t work.”

“Your warning was deeply appreciated. Zacian bless you.”

“She has. So that’s been it. What are you going to do now?”

Isn’t that the question on everyone’s mind? “I need to see him. Have a talk. I feel a bit more clear-headed, so perhaps him turning me down won’t hurt quite so badly and I can get on with my life.”

Gloria frowns. “You don’t know that.”

“You know something I don’t?” and the words are suddenly colored with a thread of hope, yellow and wanting.

“Seems a bit odd for a man to go chasing after a woman he plans to reject, right?”

She opens her mouth to say something when Gloria’s Rotom rings. “Call from Hop! Call from Hop!”

“That’s funny, I thought he was in the middle of work…,” but Gloria answers and gets a video screen full of raging Hop.

“What the bloody hell? What sort of dangerous, life-threatening nonsense are you and Sonia doing now?!”

Both women are flabbergasted. “What are you talking about?” Sonia asks, and in the back of her brain she thinks _I am so tired of being yelled at._

“You didn’t see the video posted online?”

“What video?”

“The one where you two were almost crushed by a Gigantamax Delibird! What the hell are you two playing at?”

“How did you know it was us?”

“I saw Eternatus in the video! Who else could it be?”

Her stomach falls to her feet, and Gloria looks like she’s being slowly choked. Finally, Sonia says, “We were doing an experiment. I thought that there was no one around, we cordoned off the area-”

“An experiment?!” and he rubs his temples with his fingers, “You give me grief over wanting to take shortcuts through the Wild Area, and _you’re _performing tests on Gigantamax Pokémon? And pulling Gloria into it?”

“I agreed to this,” she says, immediately coming to Sonia’s defense. “I said I would help because the reason is important to Galar, and as the Champion I have an investment in the answer.”

He is not ready to be railroaded off this. “Have you two no sense? Dens were made as safety nets in case the Dynamax Pokémon went rabid! You two could have been hurt badly if it went rampaging!”

“We’ve never been trampled in a Dynamax battle before, nor will we be,” Gloria chides him. “We were fine, and careful!”

“Glo, it would kill me if something happened to you!” and his voice hitches for a split second before he gets control back. “Think before doing something like that again!”

Sonia knew that was the lynchpin of this whole conversation, and slowly steps out of view from Gloria’s Rotom to give them a moment. She instead goes to scout the area, and when she gets over the bridge and onto the mainland, she sees a few Trainers standing around with their Rotom out and facing the Giant’s Seat.

“Excuse me!” Sonia yells, and they all scatter. She lets out a vile curse because, well, now they don’t have a good way to keep this under wraps.

All of a sudden, her Rotom – not Gran’s – starts to ring. “Call from Leon! Call from Leon!”

_Like brother, like brother_.

She holds it in her hand, just looking at the screen flash his name and picture, and she can’t she can’t she can’t answer because she doesn’t know what to say and eventually it stops ringing and lets it float in front of her.

“Voicemail from Leon! Would you like to hear it?”

“… Yes.”

“Sonia, Gloria, it’s me! Where are you two? I saw the video – Hop sent it to me – are you two okay? Call me back. Please call me back, Sonia, just… just tell me you’re okay. Please.”

He sounds like he’s worried, and nervous, and he sounds like a man who’s seen something in a nightmare and there’s no one around to tell him it’s not real except this is and _he sounds afraid_.

The man who stood up to Rose, who fought Eternatus and weakened it enough for Gloria to catch, is afraid for her.

She turns back to the bridge and crosses to Gloria’s side, who looks like a statue of polished stone – hard and unyielding and cold to touch. Her eyes, crystals of agate and so very hot, meets Sonia’s own. “So much for keeping it quiet.”

“I didn’t mean to make this into a fight with you and Hop.”

“He’s a big boy, and I’m a big girl. We will be fine. Best we deal with the fallout, though.”

“Suppose we should go see our lads, then.”

Now Gloria’s eyes start to sparkle. “Your lad? Calling dibs now?”

“Despite my misgivings, I still love him. I think.”

“I thought so. So what do we tell people who come a-calling?”

“Tell them… tell them that we were performing experiments that, at this time, cannot be disclosed. I will shut them down best I can, if you can too.”

“Of course. A Champion has to be able to keep secrets. Come on back, Gyarados. Zacian, lets go for a run.”

She returns Gyarados as she tosses out Zacian, then climbs on the Legendary wolf’s back. It’s so tall that it must bend down to help her up. Once on, Gloria gives Sonia a little wave. “I’ll see you later.”

“Stop by the lab when you have a chance!” Sonia yells as the two of them go dashing off, running like a rainbow over the earth, and for a moment she wishes she could be riding, too, could have been someone amazing who earned the right to ride a Hero.

But she’s not. She’s just Sonia, and she’s got something she has to do. She waves down a Flying Taxi after reaching the Meetup Spot and gives it directions.

“Take me to Wyndon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (03/09/2020): So here's where I start going from a romance-drama into action-adventure. Because I literally cannot write pure romance, no! I apparently have to start thinking too much about everything and writing all these details about Pokémon and Eternatus and Galar particles and yup, there we go! But I think this mirrors Real Life to a certain extent; we are not solely defined by presence (or absence) of romance in our lives, and Sonia is very conscientious of how important it is to her own self-worth that she continue to be the best Professor she can be.
> 
> In terms of updates: since I'm writing two separate stories, I'm going to continue this biweekly updating schedule. Weekly updating when I've got double the work is just not feasible given my time restrictions. I will let you guys know if I decide to stagger the updates.
> 
> Finally, I would like to thank all my readers. I always feel compelled to respond to your comments because I really am very grateful for your thoughts and musings. It's such a joy to hear from everyone, and would love to hear more. 💌


	8. Looking at You, Looking at Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. Initially written to be a one-shot introspective piece on Sonia's complicated relationship with Leon that has since spiraled out of my control.
> 
> Chapter 8: "But here’s the thing – maybe you’re not totally to blame. Maybe I was setting you up to fail. Maybe I was hoping you’d feel the same kind of hurt I felt; that I wanted you feel what it’s like being left in the dark. Feeling unwanted, unimportant. How awful is that? How petty can I be?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Musical Accompaniment: In Our Tears, by Secret Garden. Can start when Sonia starts talking about why she left, and ends her falling asleep. [I've noticed that she sleeps a lot in my stories. Is this a reflection of reality or laziness on my part we just don't know]

Since she has nothing to do during the ride, Sonia goes through her texts. Some are quick one-offs from friends or a few of the other Gym Leaders, but others are not.

Mum: **Hi, honey. Just checking in. Glad that you have good friends helping you. Let me know when you are home**

Mum: **Hi, dear. Just checking in. I love you**

And so forth during her entire self-exile. She’s grateful for her mother’s understanding.

Nessa: **Hey girl**

Nessa: **What a cock-up mess huh**

Nessa: **Still not back? That’s fine**

Nessa: **But when you’re ready we need to talk**

Then she gets to the most recent two texters, and her body immediately jumps into Fight or Flight mode. She takes a few deep breaths before getting to the first one.

Raihan: **Heard from Glo that you’re going AWOL**

Raihan: **Since it’s been two days and you haven’t responded I guess it’s true**

Raihan: **Got into a row with Leon**

Raihan: **Lost like usual like always**

Raihan: **It sucks**

Raihan: **This sucks so much**

Raihan: **I know Glo is reading these but I’m going to say it anyway**

Raihan: **Miss you sweetheart**

Raihan: **Miss talking with you like we did before**

Raihan: **Ring me when you want to talk**

Raihan: **I’ll be here**

She tears up a little because honestly she misses him too. Misses how easy it would have been to just ring him up to chat, be around each other, _to be friends_, but fixing that relationship is going to take time. For the moment, she’ll just have to lie in the bed that’s been poorly made.

Because there’s one more person to deal with. This is the only conversation that Gloria takes an active role.

Leon: **Sonia where are you**

Leon: **Please answer me**

Leon: **I want to talk about what you said**

Leon: **This isnt funny anymore where are you**

Leon: **Sonia talk to me**

Leon: **Please call back**

Leon:** Where are you**

Gloria: **You know I have her phone, right?**

Leon: **Whos this**

Gloria: **Gloria. I’m holding Sonia’s Rotom for her while she’s out**

Leon: **So what happens if she gets hurt how will you know**

Gloria:** I have my ways**

Gloria: **Magic** **Champion Ways**

Gloria: **She asked for you to be patient**

Gloria: **And, to be clear, she will come back**

Gloria: **I can only pretend to be her for a little while**

Leon: **You dont get it she told me something serious**

Leon:** Then just up and disappeared**

Leon:** How is that fair**

Leon:** Why are you taking her side**

Gloria: **Maybe it’s not about being fair**

Gloria: **Maybe you both need to get a grip and learn to respect each other**

Gloria: **Also your communication skills suck balls**

Gloria: **Try listening next time**

The burn is white-hot and humiliating, but not undeserved. Apparently, this is also the point where he must have gotten into the fight with Raihan, because it’s another two days before he replies.

Leon: **Youre right i just want to leave a message for when she comes back**

Gloria: **I’m going to read it so don’t say anything you don’t want me to know**

Leon: **Sonia im sorry**

Leon: **I probably should be sorry for alot of things but i think i get it now**

Leon: **When youre ready to talk i want to listen**

Leon: **Good night**

And he writes it every night since then as the only attempt at communication. No push, no demands, just a simple ‘good night’.

_Maybe this is what she was talking about_, but Sonia doesn’t finish that train of thought because the Taxi lands in Wyndon, and she’s got to make this walk.

Leon’s living near the Battle Tower; there’s a new apartment construction, which looks freakishly expensive, and she’s got his flat number from Gloria. There is a concierge/security desk right at the entrance, and this is unexpected because she really hoped that she could go up there without a fuss but that looks unlikely now. Damn it all, but her mental plans for surprising him are just being ruined.

“Whom are you visiting?”

“Leon Terrene.”

“What is your name?”

“Sonia Magnolia.”

The concierge taps on his computer screen, makes her spell her name, before he finally nods. “Mr. Terrene has you as one of his acceptable guests. Please step through here and take the lift to the 25th floor. When you arrive, please turn to your right, and his apartment is 2501.”

Well well, maybe her luck is changing at bit. She follows the direction, her stomach turning itself inside-out while her heart starts to run faster than it should, until she is standing right outside his door.

_You’re here, right where you want to be. _

Then the stupidest thought hits her – _he may not be home_ – and she pulls out her Rotom. Gods above, she is a moron. “Call Leon.”

The phone rings literally once before he answers, “Sonia?”

“Hello, Leon.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m here.”

“Where? The lab? Your house?”

“Your front door.”

She hears literally four thumps coming from inside the flat before his door flings open and he’s standing there, wearing casual clothes instead of the usual red jacket affair, with wide eyes like he’s looking into a Gengar’s mouth before he really sees her there. “Sonia?”

“I called because I wasn’t sure you’d be home, and I-”

And she doesn’t get to tell him what she was thinking because he rushes forward and grabs her, hugs her, holds her against him with arms that protected Galar for fifteen years but now shake as if she’s the strength that he’s needed, as if she’s what has been keeping him standing for all this time. She can’t even move her arms up to hug him back because he has her pinned in place.

She feels his breath against her neck, his hair teasing against her cheek, and her body is tight against him, she is a falling star in his orbit and cannot be pulled from it. Doesn’t want to be pulled from him.

“I never… when you were gone, I suddenly couldn’t think, couldn’t stop worrying about where you were, what you were doing, when you’d be back, and Gloria was so unconcerned and I was so angry because what if something happened and no one was there to help.”

It doesn’t seem possible, but he buries his face deeper into her neck, into her jacket collar as if the scent of her is heaven-sent. “And when Hop called just now asking if I knew where you were, and I saw the video and I just… I didn’t know what to do. I always know what to do – I _had _to know what to do when I was the Champion – but in that moment, I couldn’t do anything.”

“I’m fine,” she says gently. “Me and Gloria are both fine.”

“But what if you weren’t?”

She does not want to have this fight with him, particularly not in a hallway where people will walk by. “Can we go inside, please?”

He turns into an Abra and teleports them into the flat, divests her of her bag/jacket/shoes, and has her sitting on his couch before she really knows what’s going on.

“Are you hungry? Or thirsty? Can I get you anything?”

If the press ever saw the impressive ex-Champion of Galar this flustered, they’d laugh themselves to death. Mostly it makes her feel exhausted. “Leon, come sit down.”

When he does sit, he’s got the same jumpy, skittish energy of a newly-hatched Deerling. Apparently, she’s got to be the one in control and that, given how much of a wretched mess she’s been these past two weeks, cannot bode well for either of them.

“Are you all right?” he asks again.

“I’m fine,” she says, but upon seeing the look on his face she keeps going. “Gloria and I went to do some testing with Eternatus. I caught a Delibird, performed a few experiments on it, and despite our best efforts, someone must have been recording everything.”

“Why? What were you hoping to understand?”

“How Dynamax testing works. How Gigantamaxing can be induced by Eternatus. A few things. Mostly because the fact that Galar particle levels are still sky-high makes me concerned that the levels may continue to rise, and then we will have a repeat of the Darkest Day. I’m just trying to take care of Galar in my own way, you know.”

It’s odd being so vulnerable around him like this. Really telling him what she, on a professional level, is doing with her life. _Perhaps because he never asked. He never wanted to know._

She feels a little frost forming on her organs, and the unbidden excitement from seeing him is starting to dissipate. “Leon… I think we need to talk. No, more like I need to talk, and I want you to listen.”

There’s so much to be said but she’s got to start somewhere, and she might as well start at the beginning. “I left because I knew you wouldn’t listen when I said I needed time, that I needed to work through my feelings before I could talk to you again. And I was right.” She looks at him. “You didn’t. You came by, you called, you did everything you could to try and force me to talk to you. To make this about only your feelings and not mine.”

He purses his lips and he looks like he wants to speak but he says nothing and so Sonia looks out a window and keeps talking to get everything out. “But at some point you did realize what I wanted. That I needed the space to myself. So… thank you for that. But here’s the thing – maybe you’re not totally to blame. Maybe I was setting you up to fail. Maybe I was hoping you’d feel the same kind of hurt I felt; that I wanted you feel what it’s like being left in the dark. Feeling unwanted, unimportant. How awful is that? How petty can I be?”

The tears that fall just go straight down. She doesn’t feel her breath start to catch, doesn’t feel her voice waver. It’s a rain falling on her face, and the ice inside is untouched and unfeeling. She can keep going. “You deserve better than this. Better than some stupid bint who can’t even act like a normal human being and have a conversation without wanting to dip out like a child. So…,” and she can’t help but look down at her hands because she has to brace herself for his response, “I’m ready for whatever you’re going to say. Good, bad… whatever it is, I understand.”

But he doesn’t say anything at first; he just leans forward and pulls her into him, into a hug that now leaves her arms free to hold him back. He rests his cheek against hers, rough to smooth, and this feels different, like he’s supporting her and not just looking for her to provide it.

They’re equal, Sonia realizes. Sitting on the couch, he’s at her level and she’s at his. Her arms slowly make their way around his neck, and she remembers that the last time she’s hugged him like this was when they were both young and new and happy to be around each other. This Leon is unfamiliar, with his lines and shape too big for her to hold, and that brings an old sorrow up into her eyes.

Then he whispers into her ear, gentle as lace and tulle from a veil, “If I asked you to stay, what would you say?”

It takes her a moment to speak, the words now trapped in her throat, and her heart isn’t sure what it heard but wants to hear more. “I’d say… I’m scared. Scared of the next time you leave, and I get left behind.”

“And if I promised?”

“I’d be twice as scared, twice as hurt.”

He tightens his grip. “Please don’t go.”

She’s so overwhelmed by this because he isn’t quite following the script she had mentally written and he never follows the script so why should today be particularly special but it’s making her want to pull away in nervousness except that he doesn’t let her. He turns to steel, unbending, unbreaking to the point that Sonia actually looks up to try and tell him something, anything, she doesn’t even know what she wants to say but nothing comes out.

Because the pieces are slowly falling into place and the picture is forming in her mind started with single brushstrokes over a canvas that are meaningless at first but start to coalesce and she sees it now, sees that he’s _not_ turning her down, he’s _not_ rejecting her feelings, and while he can’t say that he loves her like she loves him, he’s _not_ acting like a man who intends to keep her at arm’s length as a friend. This knowledge is bright, blinding like winter sun through an icicle, and makes her want to dive headfirst into an avalanche.

So she doesn’t think because if she does she’ll stop herself and she leans into him and puts her lips on his, like the brush of a flower petal, and just _feels_ him, memorizes him because she’s been wanting it for so long that she can’t stop herself from trying to get closer to him and she doesn’t know if this moment will end at any point. But where she expects him to pull back, she is surprised to feel him returning the favor with tiny little kisses of his own, and he’s the warmth of the sun on her lips, he’s the summer wind breathing new life into her, he’s becoming the sea and rising over her, sweeping her away and pulling her under as he becomes more insistent, more encompassing, and she wants to drown in him.

She pulls back for just a moment because this is going to get very heated very quickly if she doesn’t try and maintain some control. But when she tries to speak, to make his name fall into the space between them he swoops in, swallows it up, and becomes her voice. When she finally manages to catch her breath, she gasps out, “Leon!” into his ear, and it makes things worse. He doesn’t let her go, and instead pulls her into his lap so she’s straddling him and he can continue to dot kisses down the side of her neck and _oh sword and shield_ he’s never kissed her before so how does he know to do _that_ right _there_?

And she keeps telling herself _okay it’s time to stop_ over and over but she doesn’t stop because now her hands have remembered that it’s polite to reciprocate and she’s touching his neck (and he likes that because now he’s humming his pleasure into her mouth) before running her nails down to his shoulders (and they are broad and firm and he is getting a kick out of her lightly scratching him if the shivers in his arms are anything to go by) and finally down his chest (and now he arches against her fingers, particularly when they take their time running down his pecs, and he definitely moans when she hits her mark going down).

“Leon,” and she finally pulls away enough to look him in the eyes and its almost orgasmic just looking into them at this short distance. “I can’t do this if I don’t know for certain. Do you want me in your life as a friend, or as a lover?”

“I think I’m being pretty clear,” he says, almost cheeky.

“No, I need to know,” she says, and now she’s getting a little control back even though her arms are around his neck and she’s almost sitting directly on _him_. “If you got a call from the Macros Company, would you leave me to take care of it?”

Because this is the crux of her fear and might be for the rest of their relationship (however short or long it happens to be). Because he’s always put everything else first, giving gold to the rest of the world while she gets shredded ribbons. And while her body is near begging for his touch and for them to go as far as they can go, Sonia knows that it would only break her to irreparability upon discovering that nothing has changed even after everything is different.

The lack of an immediate answer is so telling, and she releases his neck and starts to climb off. “I thought so-”

His hands are suddenly move to her thighs, holding her still as if she were trapped in a rockfall. “No.”

“No what?”

“No, I wouldn’t go,” he says, tilting his head up to look right at her, as if he could force his thoughts and emotions directly into her skull. “Right now, at this moment, I can’t go. If I left you, and I had to see the look on your face, I’d never be able to live with myself.”

“But what about in the future? More than just now?” and she’s on the verge of panicking but tries to keep her voice as steady as possible.

He pulls her into him, hugging her and making the lines between him and her start to blur again. “Yes, there might be times that I need to do my work – just like you have your duties that extend beyond me. So while I can’t promise I’ll never leave again, I can tell you that I will always come back home to you… if you’ll have me.”

The words echo in her head, in her heart, down through the depths of her soul, and they’re what’s she’s been looking for and she’s near blinded by what he’s said and even though it’s not a promise she puts her arms around his neck and maybe she’s crying again but it doesn’t hurt it’s like the coming of a spring rain after the long winter, melting the snow so that the grass can grow, the trees can bloom, the world can be alive again.

It’s almost embarrassing but she finds herself curling into him and closing her eyes. Somehow, he manages to lay them both down on the couch, her on him, as he slowly brushes the tears off her cheeks and the sound of his heart beats so deep that she can feel it in her bones and one arm goes over to hold her in place and she thinks _this could be my epitaph_.

When she wakes up, her ear hurts from where it has been pressed against his chest, and she has to slowly slide herself to the side because she’s _this_ close to falling off the couch and this isn’t really how most romance movies or novels are supposed to go but she just laughs at herself for such a ridiculous thought. A glance upwards, and she sees that he’s still asleep and good lord he looks so exhausted has he been sleeping at all these past two weeks? But it’s a bit of a heaven-sent because she can look at him without worrying about making a giant fool of herself.

It’s a funny thing how she can think she knows him, but every part of him feels so different when she’s this close. There’s the faintest hint of a five o’clock shadow around his trimmed beard, the source of the scratchiness as they were kissing. His hair is actually a little shorter now than it was when he was the Champion, now around his shoulders, and maybe there is a bit more spring to those dark waves since they aren’t so heavy but really his hair is soft but thick enough that she might accidentally lose her hand in it if she’s not careful (though it is perfect for grabbing and holding his head in place _stop it Sonia you aren’t ready for that_). She completely forgets to be discrete and reaches forward to stroke his cheek, then snatches her fingers back when he twitches and leans into her touch.

_Oh you are not the sharpest Honedge in the bunch, are you?_ she mentally berates herself as he stirs and opens his eyes. “Sorry for the rude awakening.”

“No, don’t worry,” he says, yawning and following it up with a kiss on her forehead. “You were so gentle, and it felt so good that I had to wake up.”

_How can he say that with a straight face?!_ But the kiss leaves her feeling warm, like she’s wrapped in a blanket of his affections, and doesn’t have the heart to fight or tease. “I’m still sorry.”

He just makes an oddly contented sound in the back of his throat, cuddling her against his chest, and looks at her like he’s staring at a painting by a master artist. “You look so different with your hair pulled back. And wearing those clothes. I almost didn’t recognize you.”

“It’s probably not a fashion trend I’ll keep for much longer, since I’ll be going back to work soon.”

“Do you need to leave?” and while he doesn’t put any particular weight on the words, she can see a little furrow between his brows that is so very telling.

“No, not right now.”

“Then, how long can I keep you?”

_Almighty and allseeing Arceus_! He can’t do that; he can’t ask questions like that and expect her to keep cool when she so obviously wants to say something ranging from ‘all weekend’ to ‘forever’. But she does reign in her knee-jerk response and flips the question around. “Are you busy tomorrow?”

“No plans. After you left, I started emptying out my weekends just in case you called. It’s been… nice having the time to myself. Haven’t done that in a while.”

He’s exaggerating; it’s more like two decades. “I know. You’ve been busy,” and now she purposefully strokes some hair out of his face. “But I think it’ll be good for you to have the time for your own thoughts.”

“But I’d still like to spend some time with you today.”

“I think… that’d be nice. What do you have in mind?”

He lets out a laugh of disbelief, and the two of them sit up to look at each other, though she’s still straddling his legs. “I… don’t know. I wasn’t even sure I’d get this far.”

“Well, we can go out –“

“No.”

“… Okay, then. I guess we’ll stay in. But, if I could ask –”

“Going out means people seeing me. And… I don’t want that right now.”

All this insight feels so unusual, coming from a man that can’t find his way out of a one-door room. He’s been getting help. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.” 

“Who else have you been talking to while I was gone?”

He lets out a sigh and runs his hand through his hair. “Gloria, at first. But after the fight with – you heard about the argument I had with Raihan?”

“Gloria and Melony told me about it, but I’m going to drag the full story with details out of you after this conversation.”

A nod for acceptance before he says, “I also made Nessa mad, which spilled a lot of this into the air. To clear my head, I went to visit Hop right after.”

“Hop?! Like, your brother?”

“Ah, yes? I don’t know any other Hop.”

This is a true shock; he’s _never_ gone to Hop with questions before, at least as far as Sonia is aware. “Wh… what did you talk about?”

“About what happened between you and me. He knew some stuff from Gloria. But then he asked me questions I never really thought of before, and he threw a lot of things in my face, but it was fine because he was right about most of it. And it all boiled down to the fact that, even though I thought I was putting other people first, I was really putting myself first because I’d only do what was important to me and ignore what was important to the people I claimed to care about.”

By all the stars in the sky, Hop deserves a fucking Master Ball after this revelation. Sonia can only sit silently and nod.

“So I thought about that, and about the examples he gave – and he had a couple that specifically dealt with you, which was humiliating to realize that my little brother knows more about you than I do – and I got to see his point. And yours.”

She doesn’t say anything because she’s not sure what to say. She’s happy that he’s now recognizing his faults, but it’s not like he should get a trophy for learning how to be empathetic. Still, it does mean a lot that he’s moving in a positive direction.

“I decided that weekends were off-limits for work. I don’t have life or death situations to deal with anymore, not the way it was when I was Champion, and if it means paying other people better and making less money so I can have my life again, then so be it.”

“Are you happier this way?”

“It’s only been a week, but I think I will be.” He’s been gently running his fingers over her arms, and the sensation is leaving electric ghosts in their wake. A shiver runs through her, and he follows it up to her shoulder and neck. “I think I’m getting there.”

“Where are you going?” she asks inanely because he’s starting to short-circuit her again.

“Anywhere you want,” and his hand is at the back of her head, and he leans forward and they’re kissing again and now her hands are holding his face still because she so badly wants him all of him and if she gives her fingers free reign they are going to end up someplace way more private than just his cheeks and chin.

_I want more_, she thinks to herself over and over because just sitting here on the couch making out like a pair of horny teenagers is both enjoyable and just not enough. She wants more of him, all of him. What would it be like?

_Where are you?_

Then she’s swallowed up by a memory that still burns so badly it shocks her.

_Gran’s death_

_The funeral_

_Nessa coming to help_

_ Even Raihan helping_

_Then calling Leon_

_ Hoping he will be here too_

_… And he can’t come to help_

_ Won’t?_

_It doesn’t matter because he’s not here_

_ And she wanted him_

_ Needed him_

_So how do you know he won’t abandon you again?_

And that surge of sorrow hits her between the eyes because even though he’s told her that he won’t and seems sincere to that answer, she can’t let go of the fear just yet. It’s too ingrained in her memory, like a scar on her chest that keeps her from breathing too deeply, and it hurts just enough that she can’t keep going.

He pulls back with a quizzical look. “Are you all right?”

She’s not quite sure how to answer that, and softens the truth. “This – _us_ – just feels really new. I think we need to slow down.”

“Okay,” and he gives her a kiss on the cheek, and helps her get off his lap and sit on the couch. To tell the truth, watching his body language, she wonders if he’s a little relieved too. “Better?”

“Yes, I think so,” though she keeps holding his hand while they’re side by side, shoulders pressed against each other.

They’re silent for a few minutes, only sharing a more banked heat, before he asks, “Why did you come?”

For a moment, her mind is stupid-blank. She can’t remember. _Wait, the Gigantamax issue, but before that the fight, but not that far back, the visit to –_ “Rose!”

He looks confused. “Flowers?”

“No, I went to see Rose in prison.”

“What?” he asks sharply, turning to face her and a look of sharp disbelief coloring his expression. “Sonia, what in the name of Palkia’s good earth would possess you to do that?”

“I had some questions about Dynamaxing and Eternatus that I was hoping he could answer. Turns out, he won’t.”

“What do you mean? He can’t remember things?”

“Oh, no. I’m sure he probably remembers quite a bit. No, he is simply being ridiculously unforthcoming with any answers to questions I ask. So this brings me to why I’m here,” and their dynamic changes for the first time, her coming to him with questions that she hopes he can answer. “Rose specifically said that you may be able to answer some of them for me.”

He was obviously not prepared for her to say that. “Me?! I don’t understand. I never talked with him about any of that!”

“He said you did,” and she follows it up by saying, “Though he might be lying. But he said to me, and I quote, ‘you, of all people, may be able to tease some information from him’.”

Now he leans back and rubs his hand over his mouth before leaning his chin on his fist. He’s giving it some genuine thought, which Sonia appreciates, because even though Rose might be full of rubbish, she thinks he’s not. Something about the way he brought it up, about mentioning Leon and being so oddly specific… Sonia can’t put her finger on it, since she’s no psychic, but she goes with her gut and thinks that he was telling some amount of truth.

“I… may remember a few things,” he says slowly. “It might not be much, though. It’s been years, quite literally.”

“Rotom, record,” Sonia immediately says, and her Rotom starts videotaping them sitting there. “Tell me everything.”

He gives a jerky nod, then speaks.

* * *

_I went to visit Rose for some reason or another. I don’t remember why, but I remember we were in Rose Tower, and he was in his office. Hop and Gloria had just passed the Hulbury Gym Challenge. But we talked about how all the Challengers were doing. Nothing specific._

_But then he asked something a bit… odd. He asked, “Leon, have you given much thought to the future of Galar?”_

_“Well, yes. I’m always thinking of how to help the newest generation of Pokémon trainers.”_

_“Admirable, as I would expect from our grand Champion. But I’m afraid that what I am referring to is Galar as a whole. Do you ponder its future?”_

_“No, not particularly. Why do you ask?”_

_“Ah, it is something that weighs heavy on my chest. To think that all the work we have done now may amount to nothing.”_

_“What do you mean, nothing? You don’t see the brilliance in the people who are here now?”_

_“I am being too vague, I fear. No, I mourn a Galar that will not survive the next millennia.”_

_“Aren’t you being a bit… overzealous?”_

_“One does not become great by not considering all possibilities. And I intend to see that Galar remains great for all time, regardless of who or what must be sacrificed. Would you be willing to assist me in this endeavor?”_

_It was such a peculiar turn-of-phrase. I don’t remember what I said. Perhaps yes. Perhaps I changed the subject._

_We had a talk the night before he re-created the Darkest Day, but he didn’t mention Eternatus at that time. Hop and Gloria came up to find us – I was late for dinner. Before they arrived, though, he was talking about how darkness is necessary to see light. That I was to assist him the next day by joining him at the Energy Plant while he and his team – yes, it was quite vague, and I didn’t press for further details – unveiled the newest source of sustainable energy. But I was so focused on the Tournament that I rebuffed him over and over._

_What sticks out most clearly to me, though, is when I saw him at the Energy Plant when it all happened. As I headed to the lift to catch Eternatus, he said, “I don’t regret what I’ve done, Leon, but what has been opened can never be undone. Either become its trainer, or become the fuel for its fire.”_

_And that was the last time I ever spoke to him._

* * *

Sonia leans back, her excitement fading as she rewatches the video. He’s helping, trying desperately hard to do so, but there’s no obvious key within the words. Either he doesn’t remember something specific that Rose told him… or there was truly nothing noteworthy and she’s just been given the runaround for a lark.

“Anything else?” she tries one final time.

“I’m afraid not,” he says regretfully.

“It’s fine. You did a great deal, in light of the years between then and now. Thank you,” and then she sighs. “I just wish that I had gotten more accomplished this week. So frustrating!”

He gives her a warm hug around the shoulders with one arm. “Would it help to do something else and take your mind from this puzzle for a time? I must admit that I’m starved.”

Sonia knows herself well enough to know that just perseverating on the problem is going to get her nowhere fast, so she agrees. He orders take-out and while they wait, he walks her through his home. It doesn’t surprise her in the least at how expensive everything looks; she’ll bet that a week here is probably the same as three months of mortgage payments on Gran’s house. There’s the giant front room with floor-to-ceiling windows giving an amazing view of Wyndon, like being in a Flying Taxi without rest. He’s got a penthouse suite and, being a proper gentleman, only waves to the top floor where his bedroom is rather than bringing her inside (because the desire is still there even if she’s brought it down from a fire to embers). He’s got a dining room and kitchen big enough to have its own staff, and it almost makes her drool in envy because her kitchen is fine and functional but dear Dialgia, having all these things would make cooking so much fun and he could enjoy her food whenever they wanted and nope, she’s pulling the reins of her imagination until they get to a more stable point in this relationship before having those kinds of domestic thoughts. Expectations have ruined her life, and breaking that habit is going to save it.

But the one thing that sticks out most to her is how _barren_ the apartment looks. There’s nothing personal around; no paintings or pictures, minimal color scheme on the walls, hardly any personal affects except a stray Pokémon toy here and there. She realizes that she’s never been to his apartment before, even while he was the Champion, and it hurts to see how empty his world is. It makes her reach out to his hand and twine her fingers through his, and while he gives her a bemused look at the spontaneity, he doesn’t hesitate to give her hand a little squeeze of affection.

“Where are you Pokémon?” she asks.

“Resting now,” he says, and points up to his bedroom.

It’s getting uncomfortable again, and she rifles through recent memory to come up with a topic. She finds one, and then sighs when she realizes the can of Wurmples she’s about to open. _Well, best rip the bandage off as fast as possible._

“So now that we’re free, care to tell me what happened between you and Raihan?”

He winces. “Ah. I was hoping you would forget that.”

She shoots him a look and he holds up his hands in surrender before gesturing to the kitchen table where they drop down. “It’s fine. It’s just… embarrassing. So I’d been texting you – Gloria, I suppose – and was vexed to see that you still weren’t back. I decided to call Raihan on Monday to see if he knew where you were. He denied it, said that I could suffer and wait like the rest of the world. And I,” he hesitates before pursing his lips and going on, “I said that I was different because of how you felt about me. That I needed to know if he knew. He said he didn’t, but even if he did he wouldn’t tell me since this happened because I never cared about you before and it’s a shock that I care now. I remembered the pictures that he posted a week ago – with you two and Nessa all dressed up – and I insinuated that you might be running from him, too.”

Good grief, the two men had a pissing contest while she was gone. But Sonia just takes a deep breath and shakes her head while he goes on.

“Then we were yelling at each other, and I don’t remember which of us initiated the duel but I met him and Nessa in Hammerlocke. She refereed; had apparently been in town visiting when I called. We almost had it out on the pitch, but a cooler head prevailed and reminded us to use Pokémon instead of fists. I won but honestly, it was one of the hardest battles I’ve had. We did single battle-style, but he fought like it was personal. It’s the first time Charizard has fainted in battle with him.”

“So why in the world did Melony and the others hear about it on Wednesday?”

“Me and Raihan weren’t – _aren’t_ talking. We said things to each other that were probably below the belt, and just let it out on the pitch. But in the meeting – do you know of it? – it’s between the ten Gym Leaders, Gloria, and myself. We meet every month to discuss relevant events related to Gyms and the Challenge. But Kabu asked where you were, since the Gym Challenge is starting soon and your lab is where all the challengers get their Pokédex and sometimes their first Pokémon.”

Sonia hadn’t considered that she’d be brought up in their monthly talk, but it makes sense in context. It’s something she’ll have to keep in mind in the future.

“Gloria covered, saying that you were doing Important Professor Work, and would be back sometime next week. A few people weren’t too pleased, and when Nessa spoke in your defense, I said that I agreed with Kabu and I,” now he stops and looks at her, face red in mortification, and doesn’t continue.

She’s going to make him say it because she needs to know. “What did you say?”

He takes a few seconds before saying, “That being so unprofessional is unbecoming of our current Professor.”

“Wo-ow,” and now she’s glad she didn’t sleep with him because _yikes_! She can almost imagine herself stomping out of here while grabbing her clothes. The only reason she’s not now is because she’s properly calmed herself from earlier and can take the hit without blowing up.

“I didn’t really mean it,” he immediately adds. “It’s just… I’d felt like a wreck this past week wondering and worrying about you. I wanted to feel justified in my frustration, even if I wasn’t. Well, Nessa proceeded to take your side, and she let everyone know exactly what happened and why I am the biggest wanker this side of Postwick, and Raihan was more than happy to chime in an agreement with her. So, the three of us are the most interesting thing to happen in the Meetings in quite some time, Nessa _and_ Raihan are mad at me, and I just… I’ve felt alone in a way that’s not pleasant. It’s of my own doing, but I don’t even know how to make this better.”

“An apology would be a good start,” she says tartly.

Whatever he intends to say is lost when the doorbell rings. A well-dressed concierge is carrying a bag of Bob’s Your Uncle is standing there, and Leon takes it and tips the man; it’s a funny thing to see such a simple thing handled in such an over-the-top fashion. He brings it on in, and Sonia wouldn’t think that fast food could taste _so good_ but it does. After cooking for herself for so many days, having an indulgence like this is a gift. But the awkwardness from his explanation of this past week’s drama doesn’t go away, and when they’re done eating Sonia makes the decision.

“I think I’m going to head home now,” she says after washing the dishes.

“I thought you were free this weekend,” he asks, and she bets he doesn’t even hear the hurt in his own voice.

“I am, but I’m not sure I want to stay,” she says. “Hearing you cast aspersions on my character… I’m sorry you felt that way. I best get back to _being a professional_, lest you feel the need to speak on it again in the future.”

The look on his face is an expression that she’s not sure she can name, a mix of embarrassment and fear and something a little deeper that she’s not ready to uncover. But he must see something on her face too because he just nods and helps get her things and calls her a Flying Taxi before walking her outside. They do this in silence because she’s got nothing left to say, and he doesn’t know how to apologize like he means it.

When they get outside and she’s ready to fly off, he blurts out, “Could I see you sometime?”

The Old Sonia would have said ‘yes’ without a second thought. New Sonia just says, “I’ll ring you later,” and she shuts the door and leaves him there without a backwards glance.

She doesn’t cry, though; she knows she’ll get over this because, frankly, dealing with name-calling is _way_ easier than trying to unpack years of unrequired love and abandonment issues. And this will be a good test for his resolve in trying to make a romantic relationship with her; if he can swallow his pride and have a little insight, then she’ll be ready to make steps together.

But there is plenty of stuff to do while she broods and works through the initial ache and anger. She pulls out her Rotom and sends a long, rambling text, and smiles when she sees the reply.

Yes, there is plenty to do in the meantime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (03/23/2020): Oh, Leon. Fixing and breaking things in one fell swoop.
> 
> I realize that everyone is being affected by the COVID-19 situation and, while I don't generally bring Current/Global Events into my fanfic realm because the two are so vastly unrelated, I hope that everyone is doing well, taking care of themselves and loved ones, and doing their best to prevent further transmission.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has been reading and enjoying this story. May it bring you a little bit of an escape from all the chaos in this world, and I would love to hear from all of you.


	9. Tear My World to Shreds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 9: “I’m sorry about Saturday, and what I said. It was wrong,” he says, and he meets her eyes and they look bright and clear. “You’ve never been anything but professional. Never been anything but the most amazing professor the Galar region ever had, and there’s no one else who can do all the things you do. So thank you, Sonia, for everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Musical Accompaniment: 'Requium' by Roger Subirana. Best read starting from Sonia being alone in the Energy Plant after Raihan heads upstairs, and goes to the end of the chapter. It can be replayed as often as necessary, as it fits the mood of the mid-to-latter half of the chapter.
> 
> Many, many thanks to DezyPhresh for being my beta-reader. This chapter (and the next) are very convoluted, and she's really come through to help me with it.

Sonia spent the rest of Saturday and Sunday either at home or cleaning up the lab. Nothing was particularly _dirty_ or even out of place – Gloria kept things in good order – but just reorganizing her life after this new influx of information helps make the world a little more stable. Her bulletin board now has a new section dealing with Eternatus and implications of its existence, and she knows she needs more data if she’s going to try to make sense of the Dynamax patterns or get insight into Rose’s words.

Hence, this trip.

When she hops out of the Taxi, Raihan is already standing there. He’s much easier to read than Leon, and she can see from his body language that he’s pleased as punch to be seeing her again.

“Hey, Miss Clever Clogs,” he grins. “Glad to see you back on your feet.”

“Thanks, Raihan,” she says, and immediately gives him a hug. It takes him off-guard, but soon he hugs her back and lets go when she does. “For what it’s worth, I missed you.”

“Of course. I’m immanently desirable.”

“I’d agree, but it would also make you immanently unbearable,” she teases, but then goes serious. “I heard about the fight between you and Leon. And I saw my texts – obviously. I’m sorry for everything. These past two weeks have been wretched for you, and I know I’m the cause for a great deal of it.”

He slings an arm over her shoulder as they head into the Stadium entrance; he’s so damn tall that she might as well be a walking arm rest. “Thanks, Sonia. Yeah, last week was a real bitch to get through, but I’m glad it’s done with. Starting a new one like this is welcome.”

She had texted Raihan on Saturday about meeting up, and she wonders if his quick availability on Monday is due in no small part to it being a request from Sonia along with Professor Magnolia. Still, it feels good to be stepping back onto firmer ground with him. She has no illusions that their friendship is 100% like-new, because the things they’ve said and done don’t disappear, but he doesn’t seem to be harboring any ill will, and she’s not intending to abandon her friends again. “Well, I’m hoping that this is going to be a good start for me, too.”

“Yeah, you weren’t all that clear about what you needed.”

“I need to get into the Energy Plant, and only you and Gloria can get down there. Would you be able to help me?”

“Not a problem,” and he pulls a badge from his hoodie pocket, presses it against a keypad, and the door opens to a lift. “Ladies first.”

“Let me know if you see one,” and she goes in at the same time he does.

When they get downstairs, a little hum of anxiety goes through her. Something about this place feels so off-putting, and even though she knows that nothing is here, there’s a tiny voice in her head screaming about how an evil demon is hiding around the corner. She glances over at Raihan, who’s expression is now closer to a scowl than anything, and he leads her into the area where Eternatus had been kept – and then escaped.

She pulls out Rotom and sets it to ‘Record’ and turns to him so she can both explain the situation and think aloud. “The point of the meeting today is to more thoroughly ascertain details on how Rose kept Eternatus hidden down here, and what he’d been doing. Hammerlocke is the oldest city in the region, and the Energy Plant had been built beneath the castle – now the stadium. Rose himself actually concocted the idea of the Plant, founding Macro Cosmos about 27 years ago, which has allowed Galar to transition from gas to electric and solar energy via the use of Galar particles.”

“You’re on the nose so far,” Raihan nodded, falling into the role of Guardian of the Vault. “If the question your asking is, when the hell did he get Eternatus down here, I can only give you a best guess answer. The Plant was fully completed in ‘96, and Gloria won the Championship in ’15, so it had to have happened somewhere in there, with a personal lean that it was closer to ’15.”

“Did you ever come down here?”

He looks thoughtful. “Now that you mention it, I did. When I took over Hammerlocke in ’08 from Citra, she took me down here and gave me a history lesson on it. But there’s no way that Eternatus was here at that time. All this,” and he gestures at the now-broken glass and discarded hoses and wires, “would have been hard to miss. But that means that he did this while I’ve been the Gym Leader. Right under my damn nose this whole time.”

That realization hits Raihan harder than Sonia would have liked, and his whole stance radiates a tight, shielded anger. But there’s nothing she can say to make it easier, so she keeps talking to get the subject farther away. “He had to find it, first. And since it could have been literally anywhere in Galar… why didn’t he put it in Wyndon?” and that question starts poking at her. “That’s a funny thought. Why would a man who is so protective of Galar and pre-released Eternatus keep it here?”

“It’s where the Energy Plant is. It can directly supply Galar particles to the Plant.”

“Yes, I agree. But… why didn’t he put the Energy Plant in Wyndon? He lived there. It would be so easy to get away with anything in his own backyard.”

“Rose Tower wasn’t built until ’10. There wasn’t any place to hide a giant cosmic horror of a Pokémon in Wyndon. Remember – Gloria’s the only person to catch it. It was just floating in… whatever the hell this thing was until Rose released it.”

“By feeding it Wishing Stars until it exploded everything,” Sonia nodded. “That makes sense. But I still wonder if there’s something more to the question.”

“Can I make an awful suggestion? Why not talk to Rose about this?”

“I did already.”

“What?! When?”

“Last Friday. Saw Melony, she took me to him, he clamped down tighter than a Cloyster. I heard about the fight from her, so forth and so on, bringing me to today.”

“Hope you don’t mind me saying this, but the thought of you going to Circhester Prison sends Sizzlipedes crawling on my skin. Next time, call someone to go with.”

She doesn’t bother to repeat the fact that Melony was present; she might have to let the older woman know that re-affirming her status as a well-respected Gym Leader is due for a renewal. Instead, she says, “I’ve been yelled at twice already about it, but thanks for the concern. But since he was no help, I’ve been trying to piece things together on my own. The whole Eternatus-Galar particles-Dynamax phenomenon has been bothering me.”

“Did you talk to Oleana?”

“No, but I will have to I suppose. I wanted to come here first, though, and really see if there’s more hidden down here than just broken equipment.”

“You’re welcome to scavenge. Watch your fingers, though – the shards are sharp.”

“How come this hasn’t been cleaned up? Excuse my bluntness, but….”

“Can’t find any companies willing to do it,” he shrugs. “I’ve thought about doing it myself, but there’s a lot of heavy stuff here and I’m not even sure where to put it. A landfill? A Garbodor? Ergh, imagine imbuing one with more Eternatus energy – you’d get another Gigantamax Garbodor, or worse. So I’ve not had much of a choice but to leave it here. I’ve swept up and pushed things to the side, just so engineers can access the Energy Towers, but that’s the best I could do. And I’m not about to push this onto my apprentices or anyone else, so… here you are.”

She nods and bends down to study a large piece of the containment unit. “If you have duties upstairs, feel free to go. I’ll text when I’m ready to come back.”

“Yeah, no. Not too keen on leaving you down here alone.”

“Thank you, Rai, but I’ll be fine. I won’t do anything too stupid today.”

“Still not inspiring a lot of confidence in me, mate.”

A grin, far too sassy for anyone’s good, and she says, “Professor Magnolia has this under control. Go do important Gym Leader things.”

He grumbles a minute more before heading back up the lift, and Sonia is left alone. With no one around, she summons Gardevoir. The Pokémon sings in a dark, minor key as she looks around the room, then at Sonia.

“I know this isn’t a great place to be, but I need some help,” she says. “I know you can see the future, but can you see the past? Could you use Future Sight but go into the past while being in here?” It’s a weird question, but Pokémon have talents that people don’t ever try and tap; while precognition is a known talent of Gardevoir, who’s to say that they can’t have retrocognition or psychometry? It’s no good in a battle but would be a godsend for a detective or history buff like herself. May as well give it a shot.

Another song, traveling up and down like she’s walking over mountains, and Gardevoir floats up onto the broken pedestal that housed Eternatus’ unit. At first nothing happens, but Sonia stays quiet because these things take time and she points Rotom at Gardevoir. Then, all of a sudden, the room changes, pulses with dark shadows and energy, and both she and Gardevoir disappear as things begin running backwards.

She watches a 15-year-old Gloria and Hop run backwards from the second lift to Rose, moving in reverse at twice the speed of life, and watches a fascinating battle between Rose and Gloria before she disappears up the Hammerlocke Stadium lift, then watches Hop lose to Rose before he disappears up the same lift. Soon enough, Leon comes running backwards, stops to yell at Rose for a few seconds _he was right, there wasn’t much time for a conversation _before he goes backwards into the first lift. For a few moments, Rose is alone in the room, rubbing his beard and shaking his head before he runs down from the Stadium lift.

And now Sonia watches as blood-red light fills the room, and then there’s Eternatus, swimming through the space and roaring with uncontrolled power and there’s too much going on to keep track of it all and now she sees there are bodies of Macro Cosmos employees on the floor when there weren’t before, and then there’s a flash of white light as the containment unit remakes itself into a giant glass-like ball that is shaking and shifting with that same red light and everyone goes from looking unconscious to alive but panicked to less afraid, until finally she watches as one employee starts picking up Wishing Stars from a little machine and she figures out that this must have been how they kick-started Eternatus because before that, she watches everyone slowly disappear until only Eternatus remains floating in stasis, the numbers on the computer unremarkable green lines and numbers. Time speeds up and she has no idea how long it’s down there until they move so fast into the past that all Sonia can pick out from the vision is Eternatus in the chamber before it’s broken down and she catches a glimpse of a giant rock and her eyes are drawn to the redness threaded through it that pulses with malice and it almost looks alive

And then Gardevoir lets out a tiny little cry and the illusion breaks and she falls forward in slow motion onto the ground, still glowing with Psychic energy. Sonia isn’t fast enough to catch her Pokémon, but she immediately runs to her side and lovingly cradles her in her lap.

“You did so good, Gardevoir! That was amazing! You’re amazing! I’m so proud of you!”

Gardevoir sings a weak little trill, but before Sonia can do anything, she starts to turn red. Red, like the light from Eternatus. So red that it’s like her Pokémon is bleeding even though _Pokémon don’t bleed_ and she grabs a Max Revive from her bag and shoves it right on Gardevoir’s chest, talking about how everything will be fine, she’ll take Gardevoir home and get her some rest and sweets and she can retire and spend the rest of her days in the garden because she’s worked so hard and done so much

But the Max Revive doesn’t work and the red eats up all the Psychic-pink energy until it disappears into the air and Gardevoir isn’t moving _why isn’t she moving why isn’t this working_? “Come on, girl, you can do it, you’ll be fine, I promise you’ll be fine, I’m right here and I’ll take care of you.” And then the light is gone.

Her Pokémon suddenly feels heavy and she remembers that Gardevoir can negate gravity with their mental powers and this weight, this weight on her arms and legs means that there’s not enough power to do that and she just asked so much of her Pokémon that there’s nothing left inside and Gardevoir’s not singing, not moving, not breathing.

A tremor runs through her as she realizes _my Gardevoir is dead._

She doesn’t know what to do. Does she try to put her back in the pokéball? Should she call Raihan, because he’s here and can help her take Gardevoir to the Pokémon Center? Leon, because he knows things about Pokémon that she could only dream of? Gloria, the Champion? _What do I do?_

She pulls her away from the pedestal and the wreckage and nearer to the lift, but it’s harder than it looks because Gardevoir is almost as big as she is, and it feels so _wrong_ to be literally dragging the body of her beloved Pokémon but _I don’t know what to do._ She pulls out the pokéball, but her hand is still shaking and she doesn’t know if she wants to recall it because someone else needs to see this, needs to see that her Pokémon just made the ultimate sacrifice to her Trainer, and Sonia doesn’t think she deserved that gift.

She wants to call Leon because she wants him here, wants his arms and his strength because he’s seen so much and he’s probably dealt with a loss like this before and _I need him_.

“Stop recording, Rotom,” she whispers. “Text Leon.”

“I’m listening.”

“In the Energy Plant in Hammerlocke. Need help.”

“Ready to send?”

“… Yes.”

“Done. Any other messages?”

“Text Raihan.”

“I’m listening.”

“I need help.”

“Ready to send?”

“Yes.”

Both men immediately reply with words of concern, but Sonia can’t say what happened because this is too big, too much for simple words to handle. She just repeats her cries for help, and moments later Raihan comes rushing out of the lift.

“Sonia, what’s going on?” and he’s got a pokéball in hand like he’s ready to fight for her, and stops dead in his tracks when he sees Trainer and Pokémon on the floor. “What happened to Gardevoir?”

“I think she’s dead,” and now she’s crying when she hadn’t before but she’s sobbing into her fists while Raihan kneels down and tries her Max Revive along with a Max Potion, then a few berries, anything he can think of, but he sees what she sees, too.

“Oh Sonia, I’m so sorry,” and he comes around to give her a hug when he stops, obviously afraid of overstepping boundaries but not wanting her to be alone. But she leans right in and he wraps her up, so much bigger than her it feels like being embraced by a grown-up who can make the bad things go away. He doesn’t say anything, doesn’t offer false words or untrue adages, just holds her as if sheer willpower could make her pain disappear, make her Pokémon live again.

The lift opens a second time and she doesn’t look up but knows that it’s Leon running in.

“What happened?” “Sonia, are you all right?”

A split second of silence; no one moves, and Sonia can only cry against Raihan’s shoulder. She tries to talk – she does – but the best she can do is look up at her friends – _Gloria’s here too!_ – and beg them for help with her eyes.

Gloria looks at Gardevoir, puts two-and-two together, and kneels down at Sonia’s side with a deliberateness usually reserved for a temple visit. Leon looks at her and Raihan and does not seem to like the calculation he’s coming up with, but doesn’t say a word and doesn’t try to break them up.

It’s the latter that moves; Raihan gently lets her go and stands up. “Don’t fuck this up, mate,” and he hits Leon’s shoulder with his own before taking a spot at Gloria’s side.

“Sonia, what happened?” Leon asks, kneeling next to her and rubbing his hand down her back.

“Gardevoir’s dead,” she says between sobbing breaths, and now he realizes just how bad this is, and he pulls her into his chest, wrapping his arms around her like a shield. “I asked for her help, and she died! I killed my Pokémon!”

“You didn’t-“

“I did! I asked her to help me, and it’s my fault, it was too much, and now she’s dead because I didn’t think about her and how much it would hurt her!”

A soft hand on her back; Gloria’s touch stroking her hair. “You’re always thinking about them,” she says soothingly. “Gardevoir wouldn’t have helped if she didn’t love you the way you loved her.”

It helps and it hurts and the pain is ripping through Sonia and she can’t stop crying into Leon’s chest and she’s never done this before because he’s never been here for her before but she is glad, so glad he’s here she just wants him here to help her because she can’t do this alone anymore.

“I’m here,” he murmurs into her ear, “I’m not leaving. I told you I’d come if you needed me.”

She cries harder. Finally, Leon takes the pokéball and, after looking into Sonia’s eyes for agreement, carefully recalls the body. He minimizes it and puts the pokéball in Sonia’s hand before cradling his own on top.

“We’ll find someplace nice for her to sleep.”

She’s still crying when the four of them go upstairs into Hammerlocke Stadium proper, and Raihan directs them into his office. It’s surprisingly big, if untidy, with a large L-shaped desk and a little table with two chairs in front of it. He sends one of his apprentices for drinks as Leon helps Sonia into one chair and Gloria takes the other. By the time bottled water has been dispersed to everyone, Raihan’s taken a seat at his desk chair and Leon’s leaning against a windowsill. Sonia wishes he were close enough to hold his hand.

“Tell us what happened,” Gloria says, not unkindly, and Sonia has enough of herself back to walk through her thought process. She explains the reverse use of Future Sight, and the illusions that Gardevoir cast that Rotom recorded. At the end, she explains what she saw when Gardevoir died, but admits that she doesn’t know what it means. Neither does anyone else.

“I’ve watched Pokémon die before,” Leon admits. “My master had a Bewear that died of old age. It just… laid down and didn’t wake up one day. He buried it, but I don’t remember any red light like you’re talking about.”

“I’ve seen one die, too. Took a really bad hit and there was no time for the Trainer to get it to a Center. No red light at that time, either,” Raihan adds in.

Gloria shakes her head. “I’ve never seen a Pokémon die. Sorry I’m no help.”

Sonia doesn’t want to mention this, but she’s going to. “Could it… could it have been caused by Eternatus? From the vision?”

All three Trainers stiffen up. “No way,” Raihan says. “Time travel? Unlikely, mate.”

“But it happened after Eternatus escaped, in our time. Did it get out?” Leon puts forth.

“I’ve had it with me ever since catching it, and I was in Wyndon before this. It’s right here, in fact,” and she points to one of the pokéballs on her belt. “Nothing happened that I know of.”

“But red light is associated with Eternatus, and so is space-time manipulation,” Sonia says.

Gloria lets out a soft sound. “I remember that. When we were fighting Eternamax Eternatus, I remember seeing all these different places, like punched-out holes in the sky that led to different parts of Galar. But it needed a lot of energy to do it, so I don’t know if it could while still in its rock.”

“I don’t remember that,” Leon says.

“Yeah, you were out of it. But I’d bet Hop would remember.”

“Let’s say it’s possible, then,” Raihan says slowly, “that the Eternatus from 5 years ago killed your Gardevoir. _How_?”

The room is silent; no one has a good answer. But Sonia knows one thing she has to do.

“Let me review the video from Rotom,” she says. “If there’s something to be found out, I’m sure it’s hidden in the video.”

Gloria holds up the pokéball in question, rolling it between her fingers. “In the meantime, I’ll do some work with Eternatus. Someplace quiet and away from other people.”

“I’ll dig deeper into Hammerlocke’s history and the Energy Plant,” Raihan says as he turns on his computer. “And into the Darkest Day, in case there’s something subtle we missed.”

Leon looks at Sonia. “I’ll do whatever you need me to do. I’m at your mercy.”

“Then go find Oleana and talk to her about Rose,” Sonia immediately says. “She’s the only other person who could possibly know anything close to what Rose knows.”

“Consider it done.”

“While I hate to make this sound like a meeting,” and Gloria sighs, “should we have another get-together to compare notes later?”

“Tentative Friday, if that’s all right with everyone,” Sonia suggests, and nods around the room solidify the plan. “Then… I think I better go home. Nothing is getting done today, anyway.”

All three look sympathetic, and Leon moves right to her elbow. “I’ll come with.”

“Thank you,” she whispers, and to the others she says, “Thanks, you two. You’re the best anyone could ask for. But how did you know?” she looks at Gloria.

“We,” and she gestures to Leon, “literally ran into each other and were having a chat when he got the text. So I followed, of course.”

“Thank you, love. Be sure to come by the lab, okay?”

“I’ll schedule some time soon, I promise. See you.”

As the two of them head for the door, Leon suddenly stops and turns around. “Raihan?”

“What?” and the word is a little sharper than usual, but it doesn’t deter Leon.

“I’m sorry, mate.” Before Raihan can get a word in edgewise, he continues. “You were right. I was an absolute arse this past week. And… I’m sorry for the things I said to you. All of it.”

Sonia has _never_ heard an apology from him before. It’s not that Leon’s not sincere, but he’s never been around long enough to say sorry for anything. Raihan looks like he’s been hit with Stun Spore, but then he runs his hand through his hair and scratches the back of his neck before saying, “Yeah, me too. We pissed each other off real good, didn’t we?”

“Yeah.”

“Sorry.”

The two men sort of nod their heads at each other, then Leon looks at Gloria. “I’m sorry to you, too, for all the rubbish you had to put up with from me.”

She, on the other hand, just crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow. “If you think I’m apologizing to you for being real, you have another thing coming.”

Sonia snorts behind her hand, and now it’s Leon’s turn to shoot her a warning glance. But Gloria continues, “You’re my friends. Don’t pull this kind of Tauros shite again, all right?”

“Yes, Champion,” Sonia agrees with a half-smile, and Leon says, “Of course.”

“Good. Now go home and get some rest. If you need anything else, ring me up.”

“Same here,” Raihan waves, and the duo leave their friends behind, talking in the office.

They get outside and Sonia starts walking to the Taxi stand. It takes her a hot second to realize that he’s following her, and she actually asks, “Where are you going?”

He blinks at her. “I’m going to Wedgehurst with you.” He must have read the bafflement on her face – not that she’s being subtle right now – and continues. “I told you I’d help find a place for Gardevoir to rest. I’m not letting you go home alone.”

The pain kicks back in; she has to stop walking for a second to catch her breath and blink her tears away. Leon is a gentleman, and carefully guides her to the nearest Taxi, holds her hand as they step inside, and tells the cabbie where to go.

“I don’t really want to cry in a Taxi,” Sonia whispers, her voice watery. “Give me a few minutes to compose myself, please.”

“Of course. Would you mind holding my hand?” and he offers it and she takes it as he stares out the window while she looks out the other side and takes deep breaths and wipes her eyes with her coat sleeve.

They land in Wedgehurst and the breeze helps her keep it together. When they get to Gran’s house, Sonia walks straight through the gate into the backyard. She pulls out Gardevoir’s pokéball and starts glancing around for a good place. Her eyes alight on the tree peonies with huge, ivory, fragrant blossoms, and yes, that feels right. That looks beautiful enough to match her girl.

Sonia doesn’t garden as often as Gran did in her free time, but there’s a watering can with an old trowel at the side of the backyard door that she keeps on hand. She picks up the trowel and heads to the peonies. Once there, she digs a small but deep hole right behind the main stems near the stone wall until she can gently place the pokéball inside.

“Thank you for everything,” she whispers to the ground, and her tears start wetting the soil. “You were wonderful. I’ll never forget you, Gardevoir. I’ll miss you.” They start falling faster and her hand can’t hold itself up anymore as she says, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Leon’s presence is at her back. “Do you mind if I…?” and he gestures with his hand as if petting a Litten.

She nods, and he takes the trowel from her. With great care, like placing a blanket on a newborn, he slides the dirt back into place until the hole has been filled in and there’s no difference between it and the rest of the earth. He finds the watering can and fills it using the outside hose attachment, then brings it to Sonia. She takes it and gently rains down on the peonies, and then waters the nearby roses and tulips until the can is empty. She’s not crying anymore.

“Goodbye, Gardevoir. Get some rest,” and she puts down the can before opening the door and heading inside. Leon stands outside, like a well-behaved Yamper waiting for permission to enter, and she says, “Come on in.”

He drops the trowel, then kicks a little extra mud off his boots before stepping in and shutting the door. “Do you… do you want to talk? Or something else?”

She’s never been able to ask this of him before, so she does now. “Can I just hug you?”

He’s the one who moves forward, taking her into his arms, and he’s not much taller than her but the ability to bury her face in his neck and dig her fingers into his coat while she gets the last of her tears out is a different sort of catharsis. He says nothing, instead resting his lips against her crown to tell her he cares, rubbing his hand down her back to soften the blow of this loss, holding her against him as a promise that he can be the support she needs.

When she’s done – like, really done – she asks if he wants to stay for lunch. The smile he gives her tells her that he didn’t expect that, but he’s glad she did. There’s leftovers and toast and tea and not much in the way of talking except one instance.

“I’m sorry about Saturday, and what I said. It was wrong,” he says, and he meets her eyes and they look bright and clear. “You’ve never been anything but professional. Never been anything but the most amazing professor the Galar region ever had, and there’s no one else who can do all the things you do. So thank you, Sonia, for everything.”

She nods, a lump in her throat keeping her from talking, so she just drinks her tea and feels herself become warmed from the inside out. Soon, lunch is over and he helps her wash dishes – he’s really bad at it because the man’s never taken care of a thing in his life, has he? – and she instead tells him to take Boltund for a walk while she cleans up. He’s happy to do so, like a kid with a new baby Pokémon, and heaps his praises on both Pokémon and Trainer as he’s walking out the door. It gives her time to clean and put away her Rotom to charge – all the videotaping left it at low battery – before she whips out her laptop. She’d kept track of different ideas while riding around the Wild Area on a notepad, and now that she has more roads to mentally travel, she can take the time to flush them out. She needs to do something that keeps her mind off the loss she can’t get back.

She’s deep into her thoughts, so much so that she doesn’t move until she feels a hand on her shoulder. Then she lets out a shriek and a small jump, sending Leon startling back too.

“Giratina’s spikes, you scared the devil out of me!”

“I’m sorry,” he quickly says, “But you didn’t move when we got back, and I thought you’d fallen asleep at the table.”

“No, I’m wide awake. Thanks for walking Boltund.”

“What is that?”

She shows off her work, a not-small amount of pride puffing up her chest. “So I’ve started a spreadsheet looking at the dens in the Wild Area, and tracking the frequency by which we see Dynamax activity. Each den gets a different number, and with 99 dens there’s quite a lot to keep track of. But I imported some data from the past few years, leading all the way back into ’10 – before any of this Eternatus nonsense occurred. And I’ve noticed that while the dens don’t seem to have increased in their frequency of Dynamaxing, the overall frequency when taking them as a whole shows about a 10% increase. So how is this happening, you ask? Well, all of them are going active a little faster than usual. But, perhaps more importantly, they are _staying_ active for longer amounts of time. Normally a den is active for 24 hours. Now, they’ve been staying active for 28.3 hours on average. BUT the rate of new den activation still happens every 24 hours. Ergo, increased overall frequency.”

His thumb is at his chin again, brow furrowed, and she’s pleased as punch that he’s following along. “Does this take into account when Trainers enter the den? The turnover rate, that is?”

“So it’s hard to say,” she says. “Clearing a den is an odd variable, to be sure, but it only resets the “universal clock”, shall we say, if all active dens have been cleared. But dens don’t become newly active if one is cleared. It takes a day-ish to replenish the energy.”

“What did you see while you were traveling the Wild Area?”

“My newest addition to the data is already listed at the bottom. But it’s not really adding much to what I didn’t know. The only thing that’s a complete mess to this is finding out that Eternatus can induce Dynamaxing, can _stop_ Dynamaxing, and can induce the Gigantamax factor. And including the theoretical space-time manipulation we were talking about earlier… there are too many factors.”

He drops a kiss on her head, and the warmth slides down to her stomach. “I wish I could stay to help, though I don’t think I’m much of anything, but I have to get back to Wyndon.”

That knee-jerk reaction of sorrow, bone-deep and carved into her muscles, flares up; it threatens to ruin her composure and make her into the Old Sonia again. She has to fight it, purposely facing the fear by looking right into his eyes and saying, “I figured you’d have to head back at some point. But thank you for coming when I needed it.”

A real kiss now, him bending down as she looks up, and she’s lost in his touch, in the feel of him breathing his affection into her and his fingers stroking her cheek and it is _so easy_ to just want to melt into him. But she pulls away first, standing up and holding his hand as they walk to the door, and Boltund perks up from her seat on the couch as the two of them share a final goodbye kiss.

“Do you need help getting home?” she asks, not entirely joking.

“I’ll take the train. I could use some time to think.”

“Oh, well, in that case, let me walk you there.”

He doesn’t even try to protect his dignity, which she knows he has none when it comes to his sense of direction, and they walk together to the train station. It’s in Wedgehurst, in the middle of the day, and Sonia tries not to blush the skin right off her cheeks as she sends a sheepish wave at all these people who not only know her but also Leon (because he is _far_ more recognizable than she is), who does not seem to have any idea how many waves he’s making by simply being his incredibly attractive self.

“Remember, stop at Wyndon,” she reiterates at the station. “Don’t get distracted.”

“No problem,” he says confidently. Sonia imagines all the problems that could occur, but she merely waves goodbye and sends him on his merry way.

The rest of the day is spent in a bit of a haze, because even the time with Leon could only blunt the pain of Gardevoir’s loss for a little while, and then she gives up, heats up some leftovers for herself and Boltund, and finally brings the other members of her team out into the garden.

“I just wanted to let you guys know something,” she says, and there’s very noticeable confusion on Dracozolt’s face and Lapras is humming a colder song than usual. This is going to hurt, but she has to do it because her Pokémon deserve to have the closure. “Gardevoir… she got injured. Really badly hurt and I… I couldn’t make her better. So she’s going to stay here in the garden from now on.”

Centiskorch skitters over to the flowers, its flames muted to prevent setting the garden on fire, and taps the disturbed dirt. Sonia nods at it; it’s hard for a Pokémon to look thoughtful, but Centiskorch does and lets out a little huff of hot air, sending petals floating up into the air from the heat, before backing up and sitting on the stone walkway.

One by one the other Pokémon come on by to sniff or paw at the dirt, and maybe they’re not as smart as humans, but Sonia would be the fool to think that they haven’t figured out exactly what it means when one of them is hiding away in a place that no one can reach. When it’s time to go back into their pokéballs, they are unwilling to jump back in; enough so that Toxtricity almost zaps her when she pulls out his pokéball. Sonia decides to leave them outside while she goes back in for her usual nighttime routine and see if they’re more agreeable in an hour.

When she looks out the window they are still outside, and she realizes that they’re all sleeping near the peonies. It doesn’t take any thought; she grabs her camping gear and heads out to join them. A little while later, and she’s pitched her tent right next to all six of them, laying on the grass and knowing that she probably won’t sleep tonight because that sixth member isn’t really asleep and the reason for that will keep eating at her until she has answers and she can feel like the sacrifice wasn’t made in vain.

It starts softly, like rain in the distance, and soon she realizes that Lapras is singing a gentle lullaby, an enchanting little melody that winds around her head and closes her eyes and soothes the pains from today’s loss with memories that are dear and sweet, and Sonia finds that she doesn’t just sleep.

She rests.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (4/7/2020): Good night, Gardevoir. Sleep well.
> 
> So as you can see, this story is starting to get into the Wild Mass Guessing realm in terms of the SwSh plot. I am making up A LOT of things based on sheer conjecture from what we've seen in the games to any sorts of details I can find online or otherwise. As such, there will probably be some divergence from True Canon because, well, we just can't really know certain things without Nintendo or Game Freak straight-up telling us what happened in the non-player-related parts. I will do my best to tie up the loose ends that aren't addressed, though there may be some things that occur in this story that will later prove to be ret-conned due to info from the DLC.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has been reading. I love hearing your thoughts; they are very inspiring and it really makes me feel like the story I'm writing has been reaching so many people.


	10. Paid in Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. Initially written to be a one-shot introspective piece on Sonia's complicated relationship with Leon that has since spiraled out of my control.
> 
> Chapter 10: The video stops, and Sonia feels like the world has suddenly gone silent and colors are inverted and everything is wrong wrong WRONG because there’s no doubt in her mind what happened in the illusion that Gardevoir gave her life to show them and she walks down that path of knowledge like she’s presenting her thesis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Musical Accompaniment: 'Silent Tears', by Roger Subirana. It begins with Sonia playing the video and Eternatus' first appearance. The song ends as both Sonia and Gloria sit down to talk.
> 
> Buckets of gratitude to DezyPhresh, who reads three different fanfics and kindly critiques me on all of them. She's helped me make this chapter as strong as possible, given the emotions that run so strongly through it.

The next morning is brought in with the rolling fog, and Sonia hears Boltund scratching her tent door with hungry intent as her wake-up call. For a moment she thinks she’s still in the Wild Area, so when she gets up and sees the garden and the fence and her house, it throws her off so much that she just stands there blinking at everything.

The peonies stand tall, ivory petals bloomed open like a ballroom gown, and Sonia knows where she is and what she’s doing on her lawn. The gut-punch takes away her appetite, even after the overnight fast, and her voice isn’t quite the same when she speaks.

“Hope you slept well last night, everyone,” she says softly, trailing one hand over Dracozolt’s head and other under Lapras’ chin. “I think there’s quite a bit to do today… so we best get a move on.”

Sonia doesn’t usually have to feed five Pokémon in the morning, but she’s always got some curry or other food in reserve and no one goes hungry. She sips some milk and eats a few berries before putting everyone away for some well-deserved rest. Then, after packing her laptop and Boltund’s pokéball, she heads off to the lab.

When she arrives, she keeps the lights off and relocks the door after entering. “Rotom?”

“Yes?”

“Please enter projector mode.”

It aims at the wall farthest from the windows, though she left the shades down. She quickly scrolls through the saved videos, finding the one from the Energy Plant right at the end. “Can you play this video in reverse?”

“Permission to download video editor?”

“Permission granted.”

While Rotom does its work, she pulls the kitchenette table on over for a better look, then grabs her laptop and opens it up into a text document for jotting down her thoughts. Finally, it gives a little beep and flies on over. “Program downloaded.”

“Wonderful. Let’s try playing that video in reverse?”

She takes a seat and hisses when she sees that it’s starting with Gardevoir’s death. “Rotom, fast forward through this section,” because it was bad enough watching her die, but having her come back to life when it’ll never happen is just going to break her heart again.

Sonia doesn’t watch as Rotom speeds ahead in time, but it lets out a beep and the video stops. When she looks up, it’s the moment when the two of them disappear as the room turns into the illusion. “Play from here,” and as the video plays she a huge rock on the ground, at least the size of two Flying Taxis – Corviknight and cab included – next to each other. It’s not quite round, but instead flattened on one side with a pockmarked surface, like bite marks taken out of it. And she sees the streaks of red from within, pulsing and flaring without rhyme or rhythm, and puts it all together.

_This is the meteor held Eternatus in stasis after the Heroes sealed it away._ “Rotom, rewind about 10 seconds.”

It does, and when she replays it, there’s nothing to give her an answer on how an Eternatus in an illusion could have killed her Gardevoir. No special flare, no connected event. Sonia changes her hypothesis.

_Gardevoir died from using too much power._ That hurts, because she can’t even blame someone else for this loss, but she doesn’t have the luxury of breaking down right now.

“Rotom, rewind ten seconds please.” A third evaluation and no new knowledge falls on her, so she lets the video run. As it is, Eternatus-in-a-rock just sits down there as a glass-and-metal cage is constructed by some Macro Cosmos engineers; they are wearing the same uniforms as a dead giveaway. The details are a little fuzzy, in part because the illusion itself had been cast at double to triple Real Life speed by this time.

“Rotom, can you slow the video to half-speed?”

“Affirmative,” and it slows down just as she watches engineers and other people start to construct the cage. She’d heard about the glass containment unit that held Mewtwo, the Legendary Pokémon from Kanto, and wonders if they started building this based off those details. This one is completely round, and some Steel and Rock Pokémon are brought in to reinforce the internal cage along with the glass itself. It’s not terribly exciting, and still moves quite fast considering this had to have been built over the course of months to years, given the at-the-time unknown strength of Eternatus. Rose must have been extra cautious – _thought not enough_, Sonia mentally sighs.

Finally, though, they make it to the point where it gets completed, and the illusion/video slows down to real time. Both Rose and Oleana are present to watch what occurs. A few Rock-types are used to break open the meteorite, and the unholy dragon lays limp on the ground. It’s a bit smaller than what Sonia remembers from her time with Gloria on the Giant’s Seat, and she suspects it’s due to the lack of energy. A Copperajah puts it inside the unit; the door is shut, then sealed with fire while a gas of some sort is infused through one of the bottom hoses. She has no idea what it could be; Rose would have to tell her.

Time passes as Eternatus floats in the glass bubble, and there are numbers, vital signs of some sort, and other meaningless (to her) information that’s being passed across different screens and computers in the Plant. Macro Cosmos employees shuffle along, doing work of some variation or another, but then she sees Rose coming into view, carrying a box of something, and when he opens it she sees a little flash of red.

Wishing Stars.

_The day before the Championship._

He talks with them before disappearing, before everyone disappears; she can’t tell time due to the lack of windows, but then there are about two-dozen Macro Cosmos employees standing around and ready to proceed. Odd, though; neither Oleana nor Rose are present.

“Rotom, pause the video.” It does, and she thinks out loud. “Why aren’t they there? Why isn’t Rose there? Why wouldn’t he have been physically present for one of the most important events of his life? Something that he literally staked his whole career on?”

Rotom doesn’t answer; she wasn’t looking for one, because she’s got a possible answer and it’s making her stomach roll with uncertainty and fear.

“Rotom, restart the video at half-speed.”

One Macro Cosmos employee begins feeding Wishing Stars from the box that Rose had brought – _hah, I was right!_ – into one of the tubes leading into Eternatus’ cage. They’re dropped in by the handful, and as they enter into the cage, they dissipate into red-pink energy that Eternatus starts to absorb. She watches as it gets bigger. The employee is moving more slowly, talking to someone, then continues to drop them in. The feeling in Sonia’s stomach is worse, making her throat start to tighten and her heart start to race because she thinks she knows what’s going to happen next.

And she is unprepared for when Eternatus shatters the glass-and-steel cage, sending pieces flying out and killing some of the employees in a bloody spray while others run for cover. The scream she lets out is loud, echoing in the empty lab, and takes up the sound-space that no one in the video can make. And it escapes and roars and the whole room starts to glow red, in particular some of the people still alive, and they start to fall down like puppets with their strings cut, and Eternatus keeps getting bigger and bigger until it can’t fit into the room anymore and a blinding flash of red takes up the whole room, and then it’s gone. Sonia knows it went up onto the roof, because that’s where Leon, Hop, and Gloria went, but what scares her more is the fact that there are no bodies on the floor. No blood, no nothing.

Rose walks in some time later from the Hammerlocke lift, shakes his head, and stands there like a disappointed father looking at the mess his wayward child has made. He leaves the Energy Plant, then comes back. Some time later, Leon runs into the frame, and Sonia doesn’t need to watch the rest unfold because that’s not important. She doesn’t have any questions about what happens next.

“Rotom, rewind,” and she stops it right before Eternatus breaks out. This time, she’s somewhat prepared for what happens. The Wishing Stars dissolve, the cage is destroyed, some of the Macro Cosmos employees are killed right away. And those that aren’t… they start glowing red. Like they’re made of Wishing Stars. And even the ones who are already dead are also turning shining red until Eternatus’ inner core flashes with a light brighter than bright, and then the room is empty of all life. When Rose comes in, she watches him to see his reaction.

But he’s almost blank. No shock. No surprise. No anger or concern. Just… bland.

_He knew it would happen_

“Rotom, stop video.” She takes a few shaky breaths. “Turn off projector mode, come down here.”

She rewatches the explosion scene a third time, still at half speed, just to make sure there are no questions about what happened. But Gardevoir’s illusion is clear and unchanging, and no, Sonia doesn’t think she’s made a mistake in a new theory she’s going to put forth.

She picks the second-to-last recorded video, with Leon telling her what he remembers. She plays two lines.

_“And I intend to see that Galar remains great for all time, regardless of who or what must be sacrificed.”_

_“I don’t regret what I’ve done, Leon, but what has been opened can never be undone. Either become its trainer, or become the fuel for its fire.”_

The video stops, and Sonia feels like the world has suddenly gone silent and colors are inverted and everything is wrong _wrong WRONG_ because there’s no doubt in her mind what happened in the illusion that Gardevoir gave her life to show them and she walks down that path of knowledge like she’s presenting her thesis.

_Everything in Galar, from plants to people to Pokémon, is imbued with Galar particles_

_Eternatus absorbs and emits Galar particles; is, in fact, the source of those particles_

_Rose made his people feed Eternatus Wishing Stones – broken-off pieces from a part of Eternatus’ meteorite-slash-body – to help revive it _

_Instead of waking it up enough so it could power the Energy Plant, Eternatus went on a massive rampage_

_People died, and then just… disappeared_

_And Rose wasn’t there when it happened_

_But he came in soon after the rampage was done_

_Ergo_

_Eternatus “ate” the people – dead and alive – by absorbing them down to the atomic level_

_Turning them into pure Galar particles_

_And Rose_

_ “Regardless of who or what must be sacrificed”_

_knew_

_ “Become the fuel for its fire”_

_this would happen_

_Eternatus can absorb human life, maybe all life… and Rose let his people die_

_ No_

_ He killed them_

She runs to the loo because the reality makes her so nauseous that she can’t hold her breakfast down, and she upswallows everything from this morning and then dry heaves so hard that she does it again.

_Eternatus can absorb human life, and Rose killed his own people to bring a murderous alien back to life_

She falls on her knees, holding the toilet for support even though her hands are shaking and she’s still heaving and yup, she vomits a little more because she is _not_ handling this epiphany with any grace whatsoever

_Eternatus can absorb human life, and Rose killed his own people to bring a murderous alien back to life – and. He. Has. No. Regrets. About. It._

“You fucking cunt,” she weakly snarls. “You murderous gobshite. I will see you burn in hell for this.”

She gets her feet under her, flushes away her embarrassment, and washes her mouth. Tea isn’t going to fix the wretched taste in her mouth, and she instead opens one of the cabinets under the sink. In the far back is a bottle of unopened whisky, and she immediately pulls it out and cracks the seal with a corkscrew she keeps in another drawer. There aren’t any shot glasses around, so she uses one of her water glasses instead.

The first shot takes the wind right out of her, and she coughs like her lungs need to go for a stroll and get some fresh air. So, of course, she takes a second swig. That one feels a little better, and the burn going down her chest is just enough to motivate her into coming alive again.

“FUCK!” she screams into the empty lab. “FUCK YOU, ROSE! FUCK YOU FOR DESTROYING EVERYTHING AND NOT GIVING TWO GODDAMN FUCKS! FUCK! YOU!!”

The energy she spends swearing into the void makes her feel a tiny bit better. It’s certainly cathartic, but too soon she admits that this isn’t knowledge she can sit on. She needs to act. She quickly creates and discards ideas like she’s rifling through papers before coming to one that she knows is the only answer.

“Rotom? Ring up Gloria.”

“Call in process.”

The phone rings and goes to voicemail. _Shite!_ Gloria must be doing something important, but this is important too, so for once in her life Sonia leaves a message.

“Hey, Gloria, it’s Sonia. Ring me back ASAP. It’s about… our discussion yesterday. Bye.”

She doesn’t know if someone else might be listening to the conversation or not, but she errs on the side of caution. The next person to call should be Leon – for more reason than one – but she decides to wait. She _needs_ to talk to Gloria, and if she doesn’t return the call in ten minutes, Sonia is trying again.

It doesn’t take more than five before Rotom starts ringing, “Call from Gloria!”

She answers before Rotom can even say the word ‘Gloria’. “Hey, are you okay?”

Gloria flubs for a second. “Uh, yeah I’m fine. What’s wrong?”

“Where are you?”

“I’m in Wyndon – at the Stadium.”

“Where’s Eternatus?”

“With me. I’m staring at its pokéball.”

“Listen to me. This is very important. Do not, and I repeat, do NOT let it out of your sight! Don’t let a single person touch it! Protect it with your life!”

“Sonia, what’s going on?”

“I need to talk to you in person. Right now. I figured out what Gardevoir’s illusion was telling me.”

“Really? What?”

Her voice is more curious than afraid, and while Sonia knows that Gloria is ignorant of this knowledge, she doesn’t like that tone. “Promise me that you won’t leave your office, or the Stadium, or wherever you are until I get there. Promise!”

“I… I promise. Sonia, what’s going on? You’re starting to scare me a bit.”

“Good. Because you aren’t going to like what I have to say. I’ll be to Wyndon in an hour.”

“I’ll be here.”

Sonia hangs up without a polite ‘goodbye’ and gets a move on. She makes a quick stop home to pick up the other four pokéballs, and then catches a Taxi to Wyndon Stadium.

When Sonia enters the Stadium, she immediately goes to the front desk and asks to see the Champion. “This is an emergency. Get me the Champion,” she says without a bit of preamble.

The receptionist looks gobsmacked at the sight of the region’s professor basically yelling at him, but Gloria runs out to save the poor man. “I’m here, Professor,” she says, falling into her role.

She’s dressed to the nines, too, which is not something that she cares to do on days without either exhibition or Championship matches. Not only is she wearing the Champion’s jersey and matching pleated skort, but she’s also wearing The Cape (as Gloria not-so-affectionately calls it). It’s more like a hooded cloak without the furred edges, made of the finest cotton in Galar and the same vibrant red as Leon’s had been, turning her into a drop of blood against a sea of grass when she’s on the pitch. It doesn’t reach past her ankles, and the very lightest of breezes can send the hem fluttering around her like invisible spirits showing off her power. Her hair is pulled up in double crown braids; it’s almost striking how different she looks now from last Friday night.

But it bolsters Sonia because it means that Gloria is taking this seriously. She jumps right in. “Where’s the quietest place to talk?”

“My office.”

“Let’s go.”

Gloria leads the way, but only by an inch. Sonia’s about ready to run into a closet it they can’t somewhere protected. They get deeper into the administrative area, and there’s a huge door with a plaque stating

_ **Galar Champion** _

_ **Wyndon Stadium Gym Leader** _

_ **Gloria Fitzroy** _

She unlocks the door and shuffles Sonia inside before shutting and locking it. Like Raihan, Gloria has an office fit for her title. Unlike his, though, Gloria has a second room hidden behind this main office, with a couch and chair and Sonia thinks she can even see a shower in the back. Out here, though, is a large executive’s desk where her workstation is set up, windows on one side to give her a view of Wyndon Stadium’s entrance. In this room is also a round table, obviously meant for intimate but important business meetings and the like. Gloria happens to keep her office much cleaner than Raihan, though it’s probably due to personality differences than anything else.

“All right, this isn’t going to be a chinwag of a conversation, is it?”

Sonia doesn’t soften the blow. “Rose used Eternatus to kill his employees.”

Gloria’s mouth open and closes before she finally says, “I’m sorry. I know what you said. But… what? How did you find that out?”

“Gardevoir’s illusion. Let me show you. Rotom, pull up the last video.”

Her Rotom floats up, and she forwards it to the point when the employee is feeding Eternatus the Wishing Stars. “Rotom, set to projector mode.” She looks at Gloria, who does not look great but is still standing on her own. “You might want to sit down for this.”

Gloria pulls over one of her chairs as the paused video is projected on a wall. Sonia looks back at her before saying, “Rotom, play video in reverse. Half speed.”

For a fourth time that day, Sonia watches the employee drop Wishing Stars into the tubing, Eternatus explode from the glass, and then turn the humans that were alive all of ten seconds prior into nothing but food for its core. Gloria, to her credit, doesn’t make a sound even through the deaths. Sonia pauses once Leon appears in the frame.

“My best guess on what just happened? Eternatus absorbed the bodies of all two-dozen people in that room by turning them into Galar particles. It’s why there were no bodies on the floor when you and Hop made it down. And… I think Rose knew that would happen. He wasn’t in the video because he knew he would be killed if he stayed to watch,” she says softly. “He hid away and let all those people die for his dream. Some bloody dream that doesn’t mean a damn thing now.”

There’s a stillness to Gloria’s pose; not like a statue, carved into perpetual non-action, but more like snow piled on top of a mountain, waiting for the single errant sound to send it falling down the side, cold in its mindless attempt to swallow all that stands in its path. And Sonia can almost feel the ice-cold focus from three meters away as Gloria looks at the paused image without moving, without blinking.

When Gloria turns to stare at her without any emotion in her eyes, it’s like being caught in a Sableye’s gaze, and her pulse starts to race and she can’t move. It’s a different kind of scary than being around Rose, and Sonia doesn’t like it because she’s never been afraid of Gloria and doesn’t want to start feeling that way now.

“Does anyone else know this?”

“No. Just you and me.”

Gloria stands up and starts pacing back and forth in the room, like a wild Rillaboom in a cage without its drum. “I need your help.”

“Yes, of course.”

“I want you to tell me that killing Rose is a bad idea. Because I want to.”

Sonia shakes her head, not surprised but still a bit alarmed. “You know you can’t do that.”

“If he was standing right here-”

“He’s not,” she says firmly. “Gloria, you _know _you can’t. The Champion doesn’t do that! You are the symbol of all that is good and right in Galar, and if you do this then you’ll destroy all that you’ve worked to accomplish.”

The younger woman pulls at her hair. “I hate this! I hate that he gets to sit in his little prison cell, all quiet and safe, while we have to deal with this! He should be punished!”

“You’re right. Rose deserves to suffer, but you can’t be the one to do it. _I_ would kill him before I’d let you ruin your life or destroy the importance of the Champion’s title.”

“I would be a piss-poor Champion letting a mass murderer go without proper punishment.”

“That’s not for you to decide.”

Gloria suddenly goes still, her hands over her eyes with her head tilted to the sky, and Sonia can almost feel the waves of rage and sorrow mixing in the air because she gets it, she understands Gloria’s pain because she felt the same way. Finally, something must make her come to grips with the reality of following through because she turns sharply on her heel and pulls her chair back to the table before dropping down.

“All right, Professor. We have this knowledge. What do we do about it?”

Sonia doesn’t have a good answer, but she needs to do her best. “I suppose I should make it clearer that I’m only speculating based on what I know about Rose and what I saw in the video. The evidence is quite damning, but if we were to bring this illusion to Rose, he could state that he wasn’t aware of Eternatus’ ability. I can imagine him saying, ‘yes, quite regretful the loss, but you couldn’t possibly expect me to have predicted such an event to occur’.”

“Yes, me too,” Gloria says, that edge in her voice still needle-sharp.

“Even if we can prove it, the truth is that it doesn’t matter much. He’s already in prison serving two life sentences. So while you and I may not feel that that is enough of a punishment, we are going to have to be satisfied with it because what Gardevoir showed us isn’t going to hold up in a court of law.”

“Pity.”

“But the thing that is really going to mean a lot to you… is that Eternatus is much more dangerous than we expected. Beyond Dynamaxing, Gigantamaxing, even its own Eternamax form – it has the potential to kill both humans and Pokémon at a scale I’m not sure we can truly conceive. And we can’t test it; we can’t have it absorb Galar particles from some unsuspecting person or Pokémon hundreds of kilometers away just to test a hypothesis.”

Gloria now looks horrified, which is such a reassuring change from her colder expression. “Absolutely not! And it wouldn’t do that! Not with me as its Trainer.”

“But we have to assume it can. So that leads to a second point,” and she knows that Gloria _really_ won’t like this but since she’s already in a foul mood Sonia may as well put a cherry on top. “You might want to consider getting a bodyguard. For all intents and purposes, you are carrying the most dangerous Pokémon in Galar. Possibly the world. I don’t know if Protect, Mirror Coat, or Light Screen can stop it, but we have to assume that nothing can keep Eternatus from draining the region dry. And if someone of no morals were to realize this and take Eternatus from you, then they’d have the power to destroy everything – and no one could stop them.”

“Zacian and Zamazenta could.”

“Could they protect the whole region, or just you and Hop?”

Gloria bites her thumb in thought. “I don’t know. But I can’t have someone following me around for the rest of my Champion days or constantly looking over my shoulder for invisible villains!”

“You probably should,” Sonia says. “Leon never had one, and neither did Douglas before him, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be a good idea to have someone around whose sole job is protecting you.”

The face that Gloria pulls actually makes Sonia smile. “Fantastic. The few minutes I get to steal with Hop will be that much more romantic with a third person. Just fan-fuckin-tastic.” She perks up. “Wait, could he be-”

“A bodyguard does more than just watch your body, love.”

A bit of Friend Gloria seeps back into her skin with the laugh that follows. “It was worth the thought.” She sighs and crosses her arms. “I will consider your idea, as much as I don’t care for it. Because there is at least one person who I would hold as a possible offender.”

“Who?”

“Oleana.”

Sonia lets out a hiss. “We need to bring Leon into this, as the current Macro Cosmos CEO.”

“Raihan, too. He’s going to ask about the video for certain.”

“And your Hop?”

“Bollocks, this is getting big,” Gloria curses. “Can’t we just… kill Rose and set a precedent?”

“No.”

“Fuck.”

“We don’t have to talk to them right this very second. We promised to meet up on Friday, anyway. But I will ask – have you done anything with Eternatus between yesterday and today?”

“No, but we can right now if you are all right with that.”

After watching that video, Sonia feels the mild tremor start to run through her body at the thought of looking at the creature. “Sure.”

“Then let’s go.”

There’s a second door leading out of her office, and Sonia is pleasantly surprised to see that it leads directly into one of the Stadium’s hallways. A right turn, and it’s a straight shot into the Stadium proper. Walking onto the pitch with Gloria, surrounded by the empty seats, brings back an old memory.

_Walking onto the pitch, her team at her hips, and she tries to fake the confidence she doesn’t feel_

_Leon standing across from her, that bright smile on his face, that vivid glow in his eyes_

_And even though he was just a child, he was still a shining star_

_And she knows, deep in her gut, that she won’t go any farther than this, and she gazes around the Stadium because this is the last time she’ll see it from this perspective_

_Because she’s just a steppingstone on the way to the most important battle of his life_

_She starts with Yamper, doesn’t remember what he starts with_

_She ends with Dynamax Lapras against his Gigantamax Charizard, and though she gets a good hit in, it’s not enough to stand against his G-Max Overgrowth_

_She doesn’t cry because she cried last night and there’s nothing left_

_They shake hands and it almost hurts to see the look on his face as he tells her she battled really well because _he’s lying

_He never broke a sweat_

_He never looked concerned_

_And she never made him feel like she was his equal_

_When all she wanted was for him to see her_

_Does he see her now?_

Gloria gives her no warning when she throws the ball into the air, and Eternatus springs right out. It’s just as well because she’s rooted in place as it flies into the sky and lets out a sound between a growl and a purr at the freedom.

“Eternatus, come on down,” Gloria says, catching its attention, and the giant Pokémon floats down near eye level. It looks at Sonia, does a slow circle around her before butting its “nose” against her hand, and she only lets out a surprised breath rather than a scream.

“H-hi,” she manages to say before taking that same shaky hand and stroking one of the ridges on its head. It’s surprisingly warm, almost matching her body temperature, and her finger tingles when it touches the red “skin” holding everything together. It makes another sound, low and easy, and Sonia assumes that it must like the sensation, or she’d be mostly dead. Her curiosity gets the better of her, and she brings her hand under its presumed chin to give it a scratch, like she would Yamper or Boltund.

It tilts its head up and leans right into her touch, and it sets her heart at a new tempo that is usually reserved for running or battling. It’s not necessarily fear that hits her, but the dawning knowledge that this alien lifeform, powerful and destructive with capabilities that might never be seen again, is still a Pokémon who adores its trainer and loves a good chin scritch. In some ways, it’s no different from Gloria’s other Pokémon, and that’s such an odd reality to grapple with.

At this angle she can see the throbbing heart-core in its ribs. It takes on a soft ivory glow instead of the usual intense blinding white, and though there’s no heat she can feel its presence around her, as if she were standing on the hand of a god.

“You know,” she starts conversationally, “there were people who tried to use you to hurt other people. Do you remember that?”

A sound, alien and non-committal.

“We’re afraid they might try to use you again.”

It doesn’t bother to reply, far too unconcerned with trivial human worries about trivial humans.

“I’m afraid they might try to hurt Gloria to get you.”

That phrase makes it angry, and it dashes out of Sonia’s grip to wind itself around Gloria’s legs in a protective ring. It still doesn’t make a sound, but that core has gone back to being white-hot again and Sonia wouldn’t dare go near it or Gloria.

Gloria herself lays a hand on its head. “But you can do something quite special, can’t you? You can pull the energy out of anything and use them as you please.”

No answer, but it’s listening (probably).

“We watched Rose force-feed you Wishing Stars, and when you broke out you were so hungry or angry or mad that you ate all the people in the room.”

The spikes on its back go up; hackles on a hairless, skinless creature. Sonia wants to tell Gloria to watch out, but she bites her tongue and says nothing. She has no place in this relationship.

“I want to believe you didn’t mean to do it… but I won’t hate you if you did. I won’t hate you for being what you are, or for someone taking advantage of that nature.”

Gloria’s hand still strokes the head, and Eternatus doesn’t make a sound.

“So I promise, as your Trainer, I won’t ask you to do that. Won’t make you do something as awful as killing people or eating them up. When we fight, it’s to prove our strength and protect the region, not to push anyone around. Would… would you join me in that?”

Eternatus’s reply is a loud roar that makes Sonia wince, and even Gloria closes her eyes and covers one ear. It glows red, and suddenly both Gloria and Sonia see their bodies start to glow with that same energy.

_Galar particles_

And it takes every bit of self-control in Sonia to not scream and run or try to grab Gloria or do _something _because this whole situation is not within her control _at all_ but as she watches she can see how the whole stadium has Galar particles within it, filled with red glitter that starts in the ground _(the Stadium’s power spot!_) and reaches all the way up to the sky. She can see how her pokéballs are so tightly packed with them that they glow like little Wishing Stars before they’ve been put into Dynamax bands.

She looks at her own hand, at the way her body glows with the energy, and sees how beautiful it looks, how beautiful Gloria looks, how everything is connected and the same and how Eternatus, right now, slowly swallows what floats in the air, and releases more through the core in its chest which isn’t really white but a color that’s not a color and more like a feeling, a sensation like passing time or old habits, something that can barely be described but never truly known.

The dots connect, and she says, “This is what Eternatus sees. This is how it sees our world.”

Gloria follows right along; she’s always been bright. “It’s always eating Galar particles now that it’s free and releasing more at the same time.”

“Hence why the Pokémon Dens are running at a higher Wattage.”

“And why they’re turning over more rapidly than before.”

“Blessed Arceus, this is it,” Sonia says, “this is the answer I’ve been looking for. Energy cannot be created or destroyed in a fixed system – but Eternatus opens the system. It _is_ a system.”

“Are you seriously talking about rewriting thermodynamics?” Gloria asks.

“It’s hardly my forte, to be fair, but Gran had to do a spot of research into it to understand how Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing worked. Needless to say, I had to know it too.” She takes a moment to slow her thoughts. “So why are we seeing this now? Why is Eternatus showing this to us?”

They both look at the Dragon, who takes it as a hint and lets out a second roar. When Sonia opens her eyes, because the sound nearly ripped her brain in two and made her vision go black for a second, the ability to see the Galar particles is gone, and she mourns this loss because it didn’t even occur to her to whip out her Rotom or try and record the moment for posterity. And if she mourns the loss because it was like looking at the world through a veil of ruby energy and made her feel connected to everyone and everything in a way that she’ll never have again, well, she’ll just have to keep that between her and Eternatus.

“Guess we’ll never know,” Gloria says, shaking her head like there’s water stuck in her ears. “Are there further horror stories you’d care to impart on me and my team?”

“I think what we saw was plenty much,” Sonia says, then braces herself for this question. “Are _you_ all right? You aren’t going off to do Rose in if I leave, are you?”

Gloria lets out a deep, chesty sigh as Eternatus makes a sound at her. “I don’t have a ball right now, but we can play later,” she tells it before turning back to Sonia. “No. I won’t. I just promised Eternatus that it – nor anyone else on my team – will ever be used like that. And I intend to keep that promise. Rose can rot in prison for all I care.”

Sonia likes that answer. “So when the four of us meet on Friday, we’re going to tell the two boyos about this.”

“No choice.”

“Do you want to tell Hop?”

“Do you want me to?”

“I think we are a bit beyond our individuals wants, given the state of affairs.”

“Then… we’ll tell him. Invite him to join us on Friday.” She looks at Sonia, then at the empty stadium seats. “If you can have Leon there to support you, then I can have Hop. And he was there when that cock-up of a tournament happened, so he should know, too.”

Sonia shakes her head. “You don’t have to justify anything to me, love. I trust you. Sorry I didn’t before.”

“With the telling Hop thing? No, I get it. I want him to focus on doing the best work he possibly can. But I think… I think he deserves to know now.”

“Right then, but we still have a few days left. Do you have anything else do focus on?”

“Outside of the Challenge starting up in a month? Just training like usual.”

“May I make a suggestion?”

“I’m all ears.”

“Can you let Zacian and Eternatus battle, to see if it can pull the particles from the Legendary Heroes?”

Gloria bites her lip. “I don’t know. I’ll have to speak with both Pokémon. It’s asking for quite a bit but… I’ll see what I can do.”

“Then, in the meantime I will start writing up my findings. This will be a massive breakthrough in the field of Galar Particle Physics, but I need to figure out how to write about it without maligning you or Eternatus.”

“Best of luck. Let me walk you back,” and Gloria puts Eternatus back in its pokéball before taking Sonia into the Champion’s Office. Sonia had left Rotom floating aimlessly around, as was Gloria’s, but she hadn’t brought anything else. Once she pockets it, she turns and looks at Gloria – who is standing in the middle of the office, looking almost lost amid the furniture and paperwork, and her cloak makes her look like Red Riding Hood waiting for the Big Bad Lycanroc to eat her up.

“Hey, Gloria?”

“Yes?”

“Can I…,” and she decides to ask because that’s what friends do, “Do you need a hug? Because I think I do.”

And Gloria doesn’t even hesitate, wrapping her arms around Sonia’s chest as Sonia puts her arms around Gloria’s shoulders. The two of them stand in the room, holding onto one another for dear life because the things they’ve seen and discovered and learned about the world and themselves has shaken them both, has made the ground they stand on nothing more than thin pieces of rotting wood above a canyon of doubt. For the next three days, they are the only two people – three, counting the darkness that lives in Circhester Prison – in the world who knows a secret so massive it could rip Galar to shreds.

That the Champion of Galar carries a Pokémon dangerous enough to destroy living creatures with barely a thought

That the Professor of Galar has knowledge of this but chooses do nothing

That the once-beloved Chairman sacrificed his own employees to this Pokémon for a skewed vision of the future’s salvation

That the whole of their land runs on energy created by this Pokémon

And that, from now until forever, this threat will always hang upon the heads of all who live in Galar, for without it… all will die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (06/16/2020): Never ask a question if you are not prepared to hear the answer.
> 
> So as you can tell, I am very much going in a darker direction with the story line. This is, in part, because I always wondered why the Energy Plant looked so pristine despite things happening literally hours prior to Rose's panicked call to Leon. The real reason is (of course) because it's a Pokemon game and they can't show blood or dying people, but what I've written feels more like a better justification of how Rose managed to capture a life-force-sucking poisonous dragon and then make it explode with anger so that our characters have to battle it.
> 
> On a different note, I've completed my work paper and my hiatus should be over. However, other job stuff is very much in flux but I will try to post to one of my stories on the usual weekly basis every Monday. I'll let you all know if something changes. Honesty, though, writing is one of the few outlets that is really helping me deal with all the stuff going on, so I'm glad to be back. I hope you are all taking care of yourselves, too!


	11. That's Why It's Called Re-Search

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. Initially written to be a one-shot introspective piece on Sonia's complicated relationship with Leon that has since spiraled out of my control.
> 
> Chapter 11: Sonia looks up at her mother, her heart racing. “Wait, there are Legendaries beyond the native Pokémon? Beyond Zacian and Zamazenta?”
> 
> “I remember reading about the Legendary Birds when I was working on my own thesis many moons ago, but, like you, I found only the barest hint of information. This book is much more updated than my old references, but still reveals only hints and no concrete truths.”
> 
> She picks up the picture again, staring at it with new eyes. “You think this picture…?”
> 
> “Is referring to the Darkest Day as seen from another country, not Galar."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No musical accompaniment for this chapter.
> 
> Thank you again to DezyPhresh for her beta review of this chapter.

It takes her a full 24 hours to emotionally process all this information before Sonia decides that she needs to _do something_ in order to make this situation manageable, and she rifles through some of her old Darkest Day research to see if there’s anything else that may provide greater insight into either Eternatus or abilities of the Legendary Heroes. For better or worse, she was so thorough the first time that there wasn’t much left to be reviewed.

But there is one reference that she had to ignore the first go-round because it didn’t fit any of the pieces of either the Legendary Heroes or the Darkest Day, and now she decides to go back and re-evaluate its usefulness. It’s a photograph that she found in the Motostoke Library while she had been frantically going through their Restricted Archives section all those years ago. It shows a now-lost piece of artwork, at least three thousand years old, making it contemporary to the events of Darkest Day and older than the poem and tapestries still hanging around. But this picture had neither Sword nor Shield on it, though it had been placed with books on said subject, and Sonia hadn’t had the time to critically research its meaning.

Either the top or bottom has a layer of faded black and gray ink; she had assumed it was the Darkest Day sky, which is why she grabbed a photocopy in the first place, but looking at it now she could just as easily see it represent fertile soil. The remainder of the background was tri-colored in red, yellow, and blue. Within the splashes of each color were a pair of dots; black in red, brown or red in yellow, and maybe purple or dark red in the final area. She only knows what they are because of the photograph’s title: Eyes. If there were once words or figures or bodies to match the eyes, there is no evidence any longer; most of the paint has since flaked away, leaving only ideas of color rather than facts to dissect.

_This makes no sense,_ she mentally sighs, rubbing her eyes and tossing off her glasses. _I must have been desperate to copy this. Stupid incomprehensible painting_.

So she decides to go at this from a different perspective, and it’s by the grace of Arceus that her mum is available, once again, to meet for tea.

“My, I’m going to get quite spoiled, visiting my daughter so often during weekdays,” Anise smiles as she enters the lab.

“No, I’m the one who is grateful,” Sonia says, sitting her down and pouring a cuppa that she’d already made. “I know you don’t specialize in ancient history, but I was wondering if you’d be able to help with a spot of research I’m doing.”

“Hmmm, well, ancient history has quite a broad range, as you know. Do you refer to the Relic Age, aligning with the time period in which Darkest Day occurred, or the Conkeldurr Age, when humans learned to build with Conkeldurr material, or the Meteor Age, when the first Mega Evolution took place?”

“The Relic Age. I found a piece of artwork dated from that time.” She slides the photograph over. “I don’t know what to make of this. Do you think you could help me?”

Anise takes a sip of tea as she studies the image. She is silent as she tilts it this way and that in the sunlight before speaking. “Art History is not my forte, dearling, so understand that I may not be able to answer this with any meaning.”

Sonia opens her hands. _Please give me what you have._

“Do you know where this is from? Its origin?”

“No idea. Galar?”

“Hmmm,” she says again. “Well, the little bit of Galarian art history I know is that they tended to work a lot more with metals and sculptures through the Relic Age. Color was not commonly used until well after the Galarians started to interact with the Awjosk Region somewhere around 100 CT, which is our closest neighbor.”

“So this picture – this piece of art – didn’t originate from Galar.”

“That would be where I lean on the opinion.”

“Then why is it here?”

“I could not even begin to speculate.”

It’s a dead end. It has to be. But then her mother continues. “This is rather tickly, though, in my memory. Dear, are you familiar with Kantonian legends?”

“No, not really.”

Anise smiles; this is more her forte. She used to teach many of the undergraduate (and even a few graduate courses) in World or Regional History, preferring to educate on different cultures within an era rather than dive into the deep end on a specifically short time period.

“Kantonian legend is tied closely with Johtoan legends, to give some background, and both share the concept of the Legendary Trio. In the case of Johto, it’s the Legendary Beasts. In Kanto, it’s the Legendary Birds. All three colors can be associated with a specific Pokémon type. Blue, yellow, red; Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres; Suicune, Raikou, Entei.”

“Okay, three Pokémon, three colors,” Sonia follows. “Why is Kantonian – or Johtoan – art here?”

“Well, it’s possible this is not Kantonian.”

Oh, this is just dandy. “Sorry, what?”

“This might be Awjoskan.”

“I’m… what?”

“We’re not the only ones with Darkest Day mythology,” and she abruptly stands up. “Let’s go to the Uni. I think I have an answer for your question, Sonia.”

Sonia darts up and trails after her mother without a word, barely taking time to lock up before they head over to Wedgehurst University. She knows better than to interrupt her mother in mid-thought, because the woman looks like she’s reading a book even as she’s striding down the street. She takes them right over to the library, gives a polite but perfunctory wave to the librarian at the desk, and heads into the History section. Then she’s pulling books down and waving for Sonia to find a table for them to sit at.

“What are we looking for?” Sonia whispers.

“These are all books on art in each of the regions, particularly focused on the Relic Age,” she whispers back. “Look through for any images that look like the picture you showed me earlier. Look for references on the Legendary Birds.”

“And what you looking for?”

“One of the foremost references on Legendary Pokémon,” and that’s all she says about the matter.

So Sonia sighs and starts flipping through the books, which is kind of fun because it’s a reminder of when she was younger and would help her mother with some of her research or studies, and sitting at the library table like this is a good sort of comfort. Eventually her mother sits down with a few of her own textbooks, and both women are lost in words.

But it’s nearly an hour later and Sonia’s neck hurts and she already went to get a drink and take a bathroom break before Anise breathes out, “I think I found it.”

“Found what?”

She turns the book around and points to a section.

While the mythology of the world’s creation often hinges on the activity of Groudon and Kyogre to create the separate continents and regions, there is evidence that the actions of prehistorical Pokémon was produced over a longer period than may initially be assumed. One of the most obvious sources has been the location of fossil Pokémon through multiple regions despite the noted variation in modern locales (Moore CI, ’57). Another has been the migration and reproductive patterns of most terrestrial Pokémon species, such as the omnipresence of the Family Rodentia, Genus _Pichu_ lines on nearly every noted continent (Kriteck JM, ‘99), while other regions that share a land mass are noted to have vastly different Pokémon species (e.g. Family Crocodylidae, Genus _Totodile_ line found in Johto but not in Kanto though they are both on the Nion continent) (Kim N, ’69).

Another, albeit uncommon, event that has occurred is the presence of Legendary Pokémon in non-native regions, though most do not show preference for migration due to incompatible habitats. One trio that has seemed to do well for itself is the presence of an Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres in the Galar region (Lilly H ’83). It is speculated that they initially travelled to Galar after completing the molding of waterways and rivers through the Nion continent, likely around 1 million BCT (Patel NJ ’85), and may have performed the same effects on waterway/oceans on the Opobu continent, as there is geological evidence of rock formation changes that took place during the concurrent time period (Sastra AP, ’92).

Of note, their presence in Galar during the events of Darkest Day (the Solar Destabilization Event, also seen in parts of Kalos, Awjosk, and Tyber) circa 3000 BCT (Ortha V, ’79) is considered to be the cause of their evolved primary typing, though there remains no formal record of their continued presence in Galar – only anecdotal evidence.

Sonia looks up at her mother, her heart racing. “Wait, there are Legendaries beyond the native Pokémon? Beyond Zacian and Zamazenta?”

“I remember reading about the Legendary Birds when I was working on my own thesis many moons ago, but, like you, I found only the barest hint of information. This book is much more updated than my old references, but still reveals only hints and no concrete truths.”

She picks up the picture again, staring at it with new eyes. “You think this picture…?”

“Is referring to the Darkest Day as seen from another country, not Galar. Likely Awjosk,” she says. “I would have to get my friend Esther to look at it for me, as she dabbles much more deeply into Art History and could give you a much stronger answer.”

“Wait,” and Sonia makes a few more mental leaps. “Did the Legendary Birds protect the regions around Galar to prevent the Darkest Day from causing harm in those regions?”

Anise can only hold up her hands.

“That would be… an astounding find! Additional Legendary Pokémon in Galar, protecting our neighbors from the Darkest Day!” Then she stops, and the real punchline of this finding hits her like one of Boltund’s shocks. “They’re Pokémon that might not be destroyed by Eternatus.”

“In a battle?”

Sonia can’t give anything else away, so she lies. “Yes. If they’ve evolved some resistance, it’s… almost world-shattering.”

“Again, this is just speculation, dearling,” her mum says with careful temperance in her voice. “There’s really only one way to prove it.”

“Find the Birds.”

“Find the Birds. That no one has seen for three thousand years.”

“Details.”

Anise snorts. “I’ll go make a photocopy of this for your reference, if you’d care to keep looking through the books.”

Now that Sonia has an idea of what to look for, she can go digging with better, sharper purpose. Galar connects to Awjosk through the southern land bridge, passing through the Crown Tundra, which is then surrounded by other, smaller Opobu regions. So it would follow, then, that if the Birds could have been seen from the three neighboring countries – or at least, their effects could be seen – then they would have had to be somewhere in Galar that could reach those areas.

Like, the Crown Tundra. Which is enormous. And full of ice and snow. And death. Oh boy.

They only spend another two hours in the library, rifling through other Pokémon and Galarian history books with minimal success. This is in part due to Sonia’s stomach making a ruckus and her being too embarrassed to turn down her mother’s offer for dinner, and in part because she needs the goddamn break before her eyes fall out of her head, and cooking is just not in the cards this evening.

She starts to question that decision when, in the middle of eating some of Anise’s twice-baked potatoes and Farfetch’d breast, her father Orrick asks, “So, Sonia, I heard through your mum that you and Leon were becoming a bit of an item.”

She stops chewing mid-mouthful, darts her eyes between her parents who look extremely interested in her answer, before taking a huge gulp of Moomoo milk and finally saying to her father, “Ah… yes. We are, uhm, just dating right now. Though we’ve never had a date yet. But we could. I mean…,” and now she throws him a pleading look, “can we talk about this after dinner is over?”

“I’m just over the moon that he finally came to his senses and saw what a wonderful person you are. And it only took him the better part of a decade!”

_Longer than that_, Sonia thinks, but gives him a shy smile. “Thanks, Dad. Maybe when my work dies down a bit we can do some proper couple things together.”

“Well, I expect that we’ll see him next week,” Anise says. “Jasmine is throwing a ‘Congratulations on getting into Poke-Med school!’ party for Hop on the 12th. I would hope that Leon could make it.”

This is news to Sonia, but she can work with it. “He will definitely make it,” she says with perhaps a little too much heat in her voice. “I will drag him to Wedgehurst by the hair if he gets too distracted or forgetful.”

Orrick smiles at Anise, who waggles her eyebrows back at her husband. Sonia tries to pretend she’s not watching her parents flirt and digs right back into dinner with forced gusto. They’re cute, and she prefers this over something truly unpleasant, but still… _it’s my parents_!

They eat dessert and drink a bit of Orrick’s homemade stout to relax. Thankfully, neither he nor Anise bring up the topic of Leon any further, which Sonia appreciates because it was hard enough to talk about it with her mum and Leon himself, but having her dad dig for details makes her want to crawl in a Silicobra nest and hide.

“So what were my two favorite women up to today?”

“Mum was helping me do some research on the Legendary Birds.”

“Oh, really! Kantonian Pokémon?” Orrick asks with delight. He is no history buff – had been a physical therapist prior to retiring last year – but he loved traveling, and he and Anise had taken Sonia on loads of trips through her childhood to multiple countries. He was also Professor Magnolia’s son, and had learned a thing or two about history whether or not he liked it. “What brought this up?”

“Just reading through some information on Darkest Day and found a reference to the Birds having been present in Galar. Don’t have a great deal to talk about now, but perhaps it’ll be the start of another book.”

“How fascinating! I can’t wait to hear about it! You know, one of my favorite trips was when we went to the Seafoam Islands back in ’84. Remember that, Ani?”

“I do, dearest,” she smiles. “You were really hoping to get a picture of Articuno.”

“Bloody bird was too fast for my camera,” he grumbled, but still obviously relishing the memory. “Was still unbelievably beautiful, though. All ice and rain and just… really quite a sight. Do tell me if you find the Galarian Birds, Sonia; I’d pay a million pokédollars to see them.”

“You’ll be the first to know, I’m sure,” she grins.

They talk and drink for a bit longer before Sonia takes her leave and heads back home. But on the way, she pulls out her Rotom and makes a call.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Leon.”

“Sonia,” and she can hear his smile through the phone. “How are you?”

“Good. I, uhm, I’m calling to see if you’ve made plans for next weekend.”

“Mum is throwing a party for Hop – oh hells, did I forget to mention it?!”

“You did,” she says. “Just heard about it from Mum and Dad, and was calling to make sure _you_ would make it.”

“Yes, of course! I’ve marked in on the Rotom Calendar, so I’ll be there without a doubt.”

She has doubts; he can help prove them wrong. But she doesn’t want to hang up yet as she walks down the streets to her home, and asks, “So how has your week been going?”

“Going well. Good timing, by the way; I’m going to visit Oleana in an hour. Do you have any questions you want answered?”

“Actually yes,” and she rattles off a handful of ideas. “Did you get all that?”

“Of course. Thank you.”

“No, thank you. I have, ah, other concerns to chase. You’re taking a weight off me.”

There is a silence between them for a few seconds, and Sonia realizes that she might has well hang up because she doesn’t have anything she can give him now and she doesn’t want to waste his time _and maybe we aren’t as right as I wanted if we can’t even hold a basic conversation._

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

His words surprise her out of her gloomy musings. “Oh? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. Rather…,” and he hesitates before saying, “You’d think that after all these years of knowing each other, it wouldn’t be so hard to talk to you but damned if this isn’t the most difficult thing I’ve had to do in a long time.”

She lets out a soft snort of amusement. “What’s going on?”

“We haven’t had a proper date, and I never made it up to you after cancelling our last one. So I was wondering if you’d like to do something with me.”

Her heart starts skipping down the street with her. “Yes, I’d like that a lot.”

“I have an idea in mind. It’ll take a bit of time to set it up, so would next Saturday be acceptable? We can go to Hop’s party together the next day.”

He probably doesn’t realize the implication of spending a day _and a night_ with him, but Sonia certainly does. And while she still feels the pull of wanting, of a yearning that has been over a decade in the making, but she wonders if it would be right to fall into his arms just yet. Wonders if the dream and the reality can ever come to terms with each other when who he is and who she wants him to be aren’t lined up just right and don’t make a perfect mirror.

_So how about giving us a little room for mistakes?_

“I’ll save the date for you.”

“Great,” he says, with almost too much force, then more softly, “That wasn’t as hard as I thought it’d be. I should have asked sooner.”

“It’s fine. Two weeks is plenty of time, right?”

“No, I mean… I mean before now. Before all this. Before it was almost too late.”

She agrees but says, “You didn’t know.”

An odd silence, and then he says, “No, I suppose not. In any case, is there anything else I can help you with?”

“Unless you can tell me about the Legendary Birds, I’m all right for now.”

“Sure, what do you want to know?”

Sonia actually trips over her own feet on the way into the house. “Wait, what?”

“What do you want to know?”

“Uhm, okay, just hold on a tick,” she says, fumbling with her keys before diving into the house, pulling out her laptop, and taking a quick seat at the kitchen table. “I thought you were winding me up.”

“I’ve always had an interest in the Legendary and Mythical Pokémon,” he says, almost defensive. “I didn’t come by the lab just to skive off work, you know.”

“Could have fooled me,” she mutters to herself. “Anyway, please tell me what you remember about the Legendary Birds, particularly the ones here in Galar.”

“Oof, that changes things a bit.”

“Uh oh.”

“Well, it’s a bit of a messy situation. But I’ll try to help.”

“Might as well go for gold. Do you know where they are?”

“The Galarian Birds? Probably still in the Crown Tundra.”

Sonia’s heart stops beating for a second. “Wait, _still_? You know they’re there?”

“It’s been a few years since I’ve last visited, but I imagine so.”

“Holy highfaluting fuck!”

“I’ve not heard that phrase before,” he says, bemused.

“You don’t understand!” she almost yells before calming down. “Mum and I spent the day researching them, where all the major textbooks are saying there’s been no sightings of them for _millennia_, and now you’re telling me you _know where they are?!_ Leon, are you really not taking the piss with me?”

“Of the many things I might tease you about, Pokémon are generally not one of them. And not when you’re in this sort of mood. Focused, I mean,” he quickly adds.

“HOW?”

“Promise not to tell anyone?”

“Yes, of course.”

“The Champions know.”

Sonia takes a moment to absorb that knowledge and roll it through her rattled brain. “So you, Gloria, Douglas, and Mustard know?”

Now a moment of hesitation. “I haven’t brought Gloria to them yet.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because… because they don’t really care for the Heroes.”

“Why?”

“I… don’t know. I just know what they’ve expressed.”

“So they won’t like Hop, either.”

“Are you planning on dragging my brother into danger?”

_Oooo, that’s a note of defensiveness I’ve not heard in a while_. “No. I promise.”

“Not that I want you hurt, either. Sonia, you aren’t about to do something terribly dangerous, are you?”

_Of course I am. _“Of course not! What happened when you went to visit them?”

He takes a moment to get his thoughts together before saying, “They felt the change in the air after Eternatus. Weren’t too keen on me, either, and made it clear that they did not intend to let themselves be seen by anyone who’s too close to the Legendary Heroes.”

_But I’ll bet _I’d_ be fine,_ she thinks to herself. “So if I gave you a map-” and she stops dead in the middle of that sentence because there’s no way on Groudon’s green earth that Leon could ever direct her to the Birds. _Well, hell._

“Afraid not. They’ve psychically embedded the memory of their location in my head. It’s the only place I can reach without a map or hand-holding.”

That sounds… convenient. Painful, but convenient. “Could we go together?”

She can almost hear the wheels turning in his head. “Why are you so interested in the Birds?”

“Can I promise to tell you on Friday?” The meeting.

He heaves a rather deep sigh. “I suppose. It’s a trek, though. The Tundra is not exactly a romp in the park.”

“I know,” and she remembers traveling down with her parents as a kid and seeing nothing but rolling hills of white shite as far as the eye can see and cold that stabs through the face and out the back. “But it’s important. Please.”

“All right. Do you have a parka and snowsuit?”

“Somewhere. If not, I’ll buy one.”

“Sounds good. And Sonia?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for calling. It was a lovely surprise to hear from you.”

She smiles into the phone. “Thanks for your help. I have to go, but I’m looking forward to seeing you this Friday.”

“You too, Sonia. Get some rest.”

It’s a little awkward trying to say good night, even though she’s supposed to be a pro at saying goodbye, but they do and she spends a few minutes staring at her laptop wondering what is about to happen to them, and to the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (08/24/2020): Nothing like the potential of combining work and pleasure, eh Sonia?
> 
> So I realize I came back to this story with a rather exposition-heavy chapter - with a made-up textbook that I'm sure everyone wants to read now lol - but I am SO HAPPY that I can finally bring the Galarian Bird-Trio into the plot. I really want to get this story completed before November because I have grandiose plans for everyone, and I am so stubborn that I refuse to change any of the information I know about the Birds based on the game.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who's been reading and keeping up. I know the updates have been a bit more scarce than before, but I'll keep on trucking (and typing). ✍🏼


	12. A House of Broken Mirrors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. Initially written to be a one-shot introspective piece on Sonia's complicated relationship with Leon that has since spiraled out of my control.
> 
> Chapter 12: “I’m seeing a theme that I don’t much care for. You two, in particular,” he says, looking at Sonia then Gloria, “seem to be circling something about Eternatus, so I’m going to ask this as gently as possible – how bad was the vision that Gardevoir died to create?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No musical accompaniment for this chapter.
> 
> Thanks again to DezyPhresh for beta-ing this chapter. 💌

Friday comes around, and Sonia is the first to arrive at Gloria’s office; she’s there almost an hour early as they decide how to drop this bomb on the men. The duo eventually come up with a plan to gently ease them into the idea, but there’s no way this won’t hurt. It sure as hell hurt them. But Gloria has a half-hour call prior to the meeting, so Sonia entertains herself on her Rotom and practicing her script.

Hop is the first of the three to arrive. As soon as he walks in the room, he immediately goes to Sonia’s side and says, “Sonia, I’m awful sorry about Gardevoir. I wish I said it before.”

“Thanks for the care, Hop, but you texted me already.”

“I know, but it’s not the same. I… I don’t even know what to say,” he admits. “I’m just… it’s a wretched event. And I wish it didn’t happen, and I’m sorry it did.”

She tosses an arm around his waist, affectionate and appreciative, and his arm goes around her shoulders. “Thank you, love. It means a great deal to me.”

They stand like that in Gloria’s office, her seated at the huge executive’s desk with the phone tucked between ear and shoulder as she looks at them, and Sonia enjoys the stability that Hop brings. She might be his teacher, but he’s also been a good friend and it will be a blessing to have him here.

She just wishes it weren’t for something like this. “Thank you for coming up here, though. Last I heard, you were finishing up the Turffield database.”

“So far, it’s all aces!” he grins, letting her go and leaning against the same wall. “Lots of poisoning, which I’d been a bit surprised to see, but there are plenty of poisonous plants and Pokémon in the area, so it makes sense.”

A knock on the open door, and Leon wanders in. He smiles warmly at Sonia, but his eyes light up when he sees his brother. “Hop!”

“Lee!” and they gleefully hug each other. “How are you, bro? I miss ya!”

Gloria gives them a sharp glance, and they look abashed before leaning together and talking in whispers. Raihan steps in a minute later and, upon seeing the brothers huddling close together and oblivious to his presence, slowly sidles behind Leon while keeping surprisingly quiet despite his size. Both Sonia and Gloria share a glance because they know where this is going, and as soon as she hangs up the office phone with a pointed ‘thunk’, Raihan screams out a loud, girly, “HOP!!”

Each let out a yell of surprise, and when they swing around with a pokéball in hand, Raihan, Sonia, and Gloria are all laughing uproariously.

“You absolute wanker!” Leon growls before shoving the ball back into his holster. “I almost threw Aegislash at you!”

“Bring it,” Raihan grins back before tossing an arm over Hop’s shoulders. “Hop, my favorite almost-Professor! You a’ight?”

“A’ight,” he half-shrugs with a crooked smile. “And you?”

“’Bout to get really interesting, I think,” and he looks from Gloria to Sonia. “The ladies look ready for us. You know that’s always a good sign for a man.”

Gloria promptly throws a pen at him with the worst aim in the world, and it goes bouncing off the wall before Leon picks it up and easily tosses it back at her. The large meeting table has only three chairs, and the guys realize that they’re supposed to sit down when Sonia doesn’t move from her place where she’s propping up a wall and Gloria starts gesturing obliquely at the table.

“So you know what this is about, then?” Raihan asks as he purposefully pushes Hop into the middle seat and the two other men flank him.

“Not a clue. Gloria texted on Tuesday saying that Sonia’s testing went to pot with…,” and he glances at Sonia, who nods, “with Gardevoir’s death. And that she’d like me to be here while we discuss what’s happened.”

“Good call,” Raihan nods.

“I agree,” Leon says. “You’re the second-most educated person on Dynamaxing in the region.”

Hop blushes, and Sonia smiles. He often forgets how important he is, and she is glad that his brother is starting to remind him of that importance.

“Best we get a move on. Since I was the one who suggested the meeting, I thought Wyndon would be the best place to talk,” Gloria says as she stands up and walks up to the whiteboard, gracefully pacing back and forth and giving no indication to the depth of her feelings. “Sonia will bring us all to speed, Leon and Raihan will give us their findings, I will talk about Eternatus, and we will circle around for the final part.” She frowns at herself. “Sweet Arceus, when did I start talking like I’m the manager of my mother’s flower shop?”

Sonia smiles out of the corner of her mouth as she takes the reins. “Thanks, Gloria, for the introduction. Before we begin, I want to preface all this by promising to buy the first round of drinks at The Stonjourner after we’re done with this little chat.”

Hop blinks. “It’ll be, like, 2 in the afternoon.”

“Nothing wrong with a liquid lunch,” Raihan teases, leaning back i1n his chair. “All right, ladies. Give it to us.”

“So here’s what my studies from going around the Wild Area have taught us,” and she delves into the same conversation she had with Leon a few days ago, about percentages and frequencies and the like. She also explains to Hop that she went to visit Rose; he does not look particularly happy about it, but he gives her no grief which she’s thankful for. She does not bring up Eternatus yet, either, knowing that it will absolutely ruin the rest of the meeting, and she needs them clear-headed for this talk. It takes only a few minutes, since there’s not much they don’t know, and then it’s Leon’s turn.

“I went to visit Oleana on Wednesday – I had some time to get my thoughts together and a list of questions to ask from Sonia. Rotom? Projector view, please.”

His Rotom floats up and sends the video onto the whiteboard. Leon is standing with Oleana in the middle of the mine, barely lit by the lights, but well enough to see her expressions.

“Leon,” she says with her usual unaffected expression and toneless voice. Watching her is a bit like watching a wax doll speak, and not really any less Uncanny Valley knowing that she’s actually a real person. “You look well.”

“Thank you, Oleana, and you as well. I’ve come by to discuss a few things. I’m hoping you could offer your knowledge to the benefit of Galar and its people.”

“Of course. I will try to assist as best I can.”

“Many years ago, Rose had spoken about using Eternatus as a source of power. How did he discover its existence?”

“Eternatus has been spoken of in legends as The Darkest Day. I assume he researched where and when it occurred, though I do not know where he could have looked.”

“When did he find Eternatus?”

“I was under the impression that he was in possession of Eternatus for years prior to its escape on the most recent Darkest Day. I had not been working for him directly when he initially found it.”

“It escaped from the Energy Plant. When was it brought there?”

“I believe it was a year or two before the events.”

That seems plausible to Sonia; she didn’t get time stamps on Gardevoir’s illusion.

“Do you know where it had been prior to the Plant?”

“I do not.”

“So Rose found it somewhere, and had it brought to the Energy Plant, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Before it was brought into the Plant, you didn’t have a chance to see it?”

“No.”

“So you don’t know what was protecting it before it was placed into the containment unit?”

“No.”

And Sonia feels goosebumps go down her arms and back because she knows _for a fact_ that Oleana saw Eternatus being broken from its rock before being placed in the containment unit. Suddenly, she is seized with the impulse to question the words coming out of Oleana’s mouth when moments ago she assumed they carried authenticity.

_So if she’s lying about this… what else is she lying about?_

“Have you had any contact with Mister Rose since he was arrested?”

“No, I have not spoken with him since the Darkest Day. I had been arrested and brought to Hammerlocke Jail where I stayed for 1 month before I agreed to a plea deal, and now I am allowed to complete my sentence through community payback.”

It’s so odd, like she’s reciting lines in a play and not even doing a particularly good job of it. Did Oleana always sound like that? Is Sonia overreacting?

“I… suppose that’s the end of it,” Leon says in the video. “Thank you for the chat.”

“Of course. Anything to help right the terrible wrong that’s been done.”

And the video ends right there. The silence throws her off enough that Sonia actually has to put an arm out to keep from falling over.

“I wish it had been more enlightening,” Leon sighs as he gestures for Rotom to return.

“So what do you think?” Gloria asks. “Do you believe her?”

“Not a chance,” Leon says, and Sonia admits that she’s a little surprised. Leon wasn’t the sort to appreciate subterfuge, since he lacked the trait himself. “Oleana has always been an odd bird, but quite passionate about Pokémon science. This conversation felt, well, scripted. I can’t quite explain it myself, but it was almost if she knew the questions I was going to ask.”

“And she’s lying,” Raihan says with conviction.

“About what?” Gloria asks.

“At least one thing. When Leon asked where Eternatus had been prior to the Plant and she denied any knowledge, that’s not true. Lies, lies, Poke-pies.”

“How do _you_ know?”

Sonia added. “I hope you’re about to enlighten us.”

“Bringing in a lot of light, though you’ll have to bear with me. I’ve got to be a bit round-about,” he said, gently tossing his Rotom up so it can hover overhead, but giving it no orders. “If you want to learn about Dragon Pokémon, the only place in the region to go is Hammerlocke. But outside of the tapestries, you don’t go to the Vault – you go to the Uni, and their library. They keep electronic records of books that were borrowed since ’10, and scanned in some of the older check-out cards. So I went and did a cursory search on Darkest Day and Eternatus. No surprise, it was minimal at best. One thing it did lead me to, however, was this. Rotom, begin the slide show. Projector mode.”

It turns on and flashes against the same whiteboard. To begin, there’s a picture of a book that Sonia recognizes; one of the many used in her thesis. This one had some information on Darkest Day, but it was written by a woman who compared the event to something called “the pillaging of light”.

“The author’s name is Alamea Haumaki,” Raihan explains. “She’s an Alolan writer from nearly half a century ago who thought that the Darkest Day sounded like something related to a Pokémon called Necrozma, an Ultra Beast which was once called the Blinding One.”

“What’s an Ultra Beast?” Gloria asks.

Sonia jumps on this. “Ultra Beasts are extradimensional Pokémon that originate from Ultra Space. It’s like they’re from a whole different universe that’s parallel to ours, and they punch wormholes in the Space-Time fabric to travel into our universe. Alola is the only place they’ve been noted so far.”

“_So far_,” Raihan agrees. “Haumaki also thought that Necrozma and a second Ultra Beast – unnamed at the time – came through the Ultra Wormhole together. That they were two halves of a complementary piece.”

He flips to the next slide, and it’s a picture of a Pokémon that Sonia doesn’t recognize personally, but she’s heard about it. Necrozma is all black, with sharp edges, claws, and bones. Next to it, though, is a picture of Eternatus. They’re pictures from two different places, so they don’t match, but there is a striking similarity in the sheer alien nature of their forms. Like their bones are made of flint and their joints don’t bend in three dimensions. Raihan postulates, “So what if that second Ultra Beast isn’t in Alola, but here in Galar?”

“I wondered about that too,” Sonia says, “but I couldn’t find any other references to correlate that point, so I didn’t use her book except as a small reference to Darkest Day.”

“This is fascinating but absolutely over my head,” Leon says. “Can I be a right pain in the arse and ask what it _means_?”

“It means,” Hop says with a dawning realization, “that Rose might have spoken to someone in Alola while he was researching Eternatus.”

“Which means that it might be worth going to Alola and seeing if there’s something they know about Ultra Beasts that could be used in Galar,” Gloria follows.

“I’ll go,” Sonia says.

“Hold on a tick,” Leon frowns. “That’s quite a jump to make.”

“No, you don’t understand. I’d been talking with Kukui about visiting them because we both saw similarities between Dynamax Pokémon and Totem Pokémon. I’d never thought about how Eternatus _here_ might be related to Necrozma _there_.”

“Information on how they controlled Necrozma might help inform how to control Eternatus,” Hop says slowly.

“And I’d intended to visit Alola anyway. I think I’m going to go sooner rather than later, eh?”

“Then, I’ll come with you,” Leon immediately says.

“Don’t be daft,” Sonia says in return. “You need to stay here and help take care of Galar.”

“I’m hardly the Champion any longer. I can make the trip.”

“You are the CEO of our largest corporation. Arceus forbid anything happen to you,” Sonia shoots back.

But before Leon can say anything else, Gloria charges in. “All right, you two, quit it. You can have your argument _not here_. Let’s keep it professional, shall we?”

They shut up, and Raihan flips to the next picture. It’s a picture of a search engine screen with information about Haumaki’s book up top and names of borrowers beneath; the short list includes only Sonia’s name. “So with that in mind, I had the librarian check to see who’d borrowed this in the last ten years. Sonia had it about five years ago – when you were writing your book. But no one else. Then we went back twenty years.”

Suddenly, there’s a picture of a hard-copy library check-out list, and one ‘Jaswinder Rose’ suddenly appears back in ’07. “Oh bloody fuck,” Hop mutters.

“He had an idea from all the way back then,” Gloria says. “How?”

“Guess what happened around that time,” Raihan leads, and flips to the next picture. It’s Wyndon, and there’s a picture of Rose and Oleana, standing near a bunch of people in suits while behind them stands an empty plot of land. There’s a ribbon tied in front of them, spanning the length of the picture. “In September ’06, the Rose Tower broke ground.”

Next picture; a news article from November of the same year with a headline stating Construction of Largest Skyscraper in Galar Halted For Archeological Finding. A quick scan of the first two paragraphs, and apparently construction had been stopped when a large meteor had been discovered as they dug down to the bedrock to set up the substructure of the Tower.

Raihan goes on. “But here’s the catch. They found this meteor, but I couldn’t find hide or hair about the meteor from this point on. Nothing in news, nothing in archeology journals. It’s like it never existed.”

Leon catches on first. “Is it the rock that trapped Eternatus?”

“That’s what I think,” Raihan agrees. “And Rose didn’t want anyone to know about it, so he kept additional findings a secret. And Rose Tower was finally opened for business in ’10.”

“So where did he hide it?” Hop asks.

“Don’t know. Can’t find any information about it. But ‘member how I was saying that Oleana was lying about where Eternatus was prior to the Plant? Well, she had been working for Rose at that time, so she must have known.”

“So the whole interview may have been filled with lies,” Leon says slowly.

“Can’t do much about it now, but best we keep on our toes around Miss Chastain, don’t you think?”

Silent nods around the table.

“Well, to circle back, at some point he got it into Hammerlocke and the Energy Plant,” Sonia says. “But that doesn’t answer the question I had. If he built Rose Tower, and found Eternatus at the same time, then why not leave it there?”

“Ah, well, mate, maybe you can answer it yourself,” he says, shrugging his shoulders with faux-casualness. “Tell me. Do the Power Spots differ in size?”

“What?”

“Think about it.”

She leans back against the wall; it’s honestly not something she’s ever paid attention to. Except Gran gave her that one warning about the Gym Stadiums – “Yes! The ones in the Stadiums are larger than the ones in the Wild Area! So I have to consider the increased levels already present when checking for fluctuations.”

“Then let’s see if the clever Professor can answer the riddle. When is a Power Spot a better Power Spot?”

“If it’s bigger,” Hop immediately says. “Following your train of thought.”

“Looks like Professor Hop is one-up,” and he fist-bumps Hop.

“So are you saying the Hammerlocke Power Spot is bigger than the Wyndon one?” Gloria asks.

“Not only that,” and now he grins like he’s winning a battle. “Where did Eternatus land when it came to Galar?”

Blank looks all around, and Raihan sighs. “You’re all killing me. All right, let’s do this slow. So Hammerlocke is the oldest city in Galar, with the biggest Power Spot in the region, and the place where Rose brought Eternatus because he felt it was important.”

Surprisingly, it’s Leon that speaks up first. “You’re saying that Eternatus first landed in Hammerlocke tens of thousands of years ago?!”

“I’m _hypothesizing_ that it landed at the place that became Hammerlocke’s Power Spot, and is the biggest Power Spot for that reason.”

Hop lets out a low whistle. “Well, that _would_ explain a lot, wouldn’t it?”

“If he wanted to hyper-charge Eternatus, he’d send it to the place with the most amount of Dynamax energy,” Sonia says. “And that would explain how he’d know what would happen….”

“Know what?” Hop asks.

Sonia shakes her head. “No, not yet. I’ll finish up my thoughts at the end.”

“This is bloody good work,” Leon says to Raihan, who brings down his Rotom. “You found all this in a handful of days?”

“I only look like a right fool when it suits,” he said self-deprecatingly. “Citra had me contracted to earn a history minor when I went to Uni. I could do anything, but she wanted to make sure I knew Hammerlocke – and Galar’s – past because we’re the Guardians of the Vault, and I needed to be able to do research on my own after she retired.”

A skill Sonia would never have attributed to him. Funny, the things she doesn’t know about her friends.

“So now we know more about the history of Eternatus, Rose’s machinations, and the steps that lead up to our recent Darkest Day,” Gloria said. “I believe it’s my turn to talk about Eternatus in the present tense.”

Gloria does a masterful job talking about practice that she’s had with Eternatus, repeating the known information of it being the source of Dynamaxing, Gigantamaxing, and reversal or cancelling of the process. Then she goes over new territory.

“So I decided to let Zacian and Eternatus have it out on the pitch. Long story made short, Zacian can protect itself from Eternatus for a limited amount of time. However, it is _not_ invulnerable to those attacks, which is hardly a surprise given the scars on both Legendary Heroes. While Zacian is certainly capable of hurting Eternatus – as Hop and I can attest to – I’ve discovered that the latter can regenerate itself if left near a live Power Spot.”

She gives that information a few seconds to sink in. “So Eternatus can’t be killed,” Sonia says.

“I haven’t been able to let it get hurt as badly as it had been on the Darkest Day – when I could catch it – but when it’s low enough on energy, it just lays on the ground near the Power Spot and seems to regain its power over time.”

“A self-perpetuating system.”

“Yes. Like you mentioned before. Because fuck physics.”

Raihan lets out a snort at Gloria’s words. “Can we make the reasonable jump that it’d be the same with Zamazenta?”

“I think so. They’d certainly last longer than other Pokémon in a battle – which I tested with a whole bunch from my team – but they’re not infinite. And while I don’t think they can be killed,” and Gloria hesitates before saying, “I think they’d be sent back to the Slumbering Weald if injured enough. Like being recalled into a pokéball that’s not a pokéball. But we have pokéballs for them, so it’s not an issue.”

Sonia looks at Leon, who’s been silent this whole time. His arms are crossed, scowling like he’s trying to read a map in Awjoskian. “What’s on your mind?” she asks him.

He startles, then shakes his head. “I’m seeing a theme that I don’t much care for. You two, in particular,” he says, looking at Sonia then Gloria, “seem to be circling something about Eternatus, so I’m going to ask this as gently as possible – how bad was the vision that Gardevoir died to create?”

The two women look at each other before Gloria lets out a deep sigh. She backs up and leans against her desk to face the whiteboard and gives Sonia a nod.

Now Sonia’s heart starts racing and she doesn’t want to do this because part of her doesn’t want to burden them with this reality, but she knows she must. She knows they need to know.

“It’s bad,” she whispers, and doesn’t like the way that all of them suddenly lose every ounce of good humor in their eyes. “Rotom, projection mode. Open video. Play in reverse at half speed.”

And she doesn’t watch the video because she’s memorized it, has watched it so many times that the blood staining the floor doesn’t bother her and the sheer horror of Eternatus’ actions don’t make her flinch. But she watches the three strongest men she knows sitting at the table as they come to grips with what they see. At first its confusion, starting out with watching Eternatus get placed in the containment unit, and watching the time pass in a questionable haze. Sonia narrates to make things clearer, but her input is minimal.

And then they get to the Championship Tournament morning.

And Hop’s mouth slowly drops open, his eyes are wide, and she doesn’t miss the sight of him hugging his own arms and the sound of his breath going ragged as Eternatus absorbs the people-turned-Galar Particles.

And Raihan slowly shakes his head with an expression that’s beyond disbelief and right into shock, his hands shaking as he leans forward onto the table before covering his mouth and closing his eyes.

And Leon goes pale, the horror turning him from tan to sickly, and he makes it as far as watching himself run off to the other elevator to catch Eternatus before abruptly standing up. “Excuse me,” he whispers, and he heads to the back where Gloria has her bathroom, and she can’t not hear him vomiting.

Sonia stops the video as past-Hop runs in to battle Rose. It’s silent for a moment before she says, “It took a few watches, but I counted twenty-two people who died that day. Nine women, thirteen men. I could read the badge name of only one person – Bryony.” Another pause. “We talked about what Eternatus could do, but we never imagined this.”

“It absorbs Galar Particles from any living thing, draining them to the point of death and dissolution,” Gloria says gravely. “We figured this out on Monday. Realized that we had to live with this knowledge because trying to get rid of Eternatus would mean killing the Galar region.”

“The other thing we realized is that Rose knew this would happen,” Sonia says, and now she’s not bothering to hide the fury that’s barely controlled. “He knew that Eternatus would have a reaction like this once it had been revived. He set those scientists up as goddamn sacrifices to his cause, and I’ll bet he doesn’t lose a wink of sleep knowing that he let all twenty-two of those people die for his fuck-all nonsense of a scheme.”

Leon comes staggering back to them, leaning against the doorframe. “If I had been there, I could have stopped them. I could have done something,” he said, his voice raw and hurting. “Those people died because I-”

“Leon, I will kick your arse ‘til you shit my shoelaces if you finish that sentence,” Raihan snarls, hard and angry. “They didn’t die because you weren’t there, or because you didn’t do something, or whatever absolute bollocks you want to think. They died because Rose thought it’d be a perfect idea to revive an alien dragon of destruction for a problem that’s a thousand years in the future!”

“He talked about it the night before! I just thought… I don’t know what I thought. It wasn’t anything like this,” he said, rubbing his hands over his face.

Gloria is hard as steel. “He is a murderer, and you would have either been his accomplice, or fodder for Eternatus.”

“Lee, you’d’ve been killed too,” and the realization hits Hop so hard he almost curls over his stomach. “Eternatus would have eaten you up just like everyone else in that video.”

The only reason Sonia doesn’t mirror his pain is because she’s already considered that days ago. Already had the backlash from that dangerous, heart-wrenching thought.

“Who else knows about Rose? Why haven’t we strung his up by his intestines for this?” Raihan demands.

“Because we can’t prove that he knew this would happen,” Sonia says, trying to stay calm for him the way she did for Gloria. “I am truly speculating… but given how planned out everything had been, and that he wasn’t there when Eternatus broke free, it all points to him knowing the end.”

“Fuck!” Raihan nearly spits. “This is utter fucking bollocks.”

“I agree,” Gloria says. “Because it means he could come looking for Eternatus again. Looking for me.”

Hop goes from pale to red. “Over my dead body.”

“The whole damn League’s,” Raihan agrees. “He’s never going to come near you again. We’ll drop a whole mountain on him if he tries.”

Leon’s not really looking at anyone, as if he’s standing on a sinking ship and can’t remember how to swim. “But maybe… maybe we can talk to him. Maybe we can get some information since we know this. Maybe-”

“He doesn’t want to help because he doesn’t regret doing this,” Sonia says, unable to be gentle. “He wanted this, Leon. He wanted to save Galar but he was willing to kill people working for him to reach that end. And you can try to find something more human in him if it makes you feel better, but don’t minimize the deaths that you just saw.”

“I’m not! I would never,” he says, so stricken it _hurts_ to look at him. “But he was there for me for years, since I became Champion, and always ready to help, and he brought me letters from kids and laughed when I called him Da once, and I just… I don’t understand. I don’t understand how he went from that to-” and he looks at the paused video before pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes, holding himself together by sheer force of will.

Then Gloria moves. She passes by Hop, which surprises everyone, until she’s right in front of Leon. She puts her arms around his neck, pulling him down, and whispers into his ear. Sonia looks at Raihan and Hop, who look equally confused, but they hold their peace as Leon hugs her back and says something too soft for anyone else to hear.

And she says something before letting out a soft sob into the air, and his head dips down to make a curtain for privacy while his shoulders shake with silent emotion, and Sonia’s chest tightens in pain at the pose and the sounds. But she immediately steps over to Hop and gives him a soft push. _Go to her._

He jumps out of the chair and stands at her back, arms hesitant to hold her, before he reaches around both his love and his brother. It leaves her and Raihan alone, but she doesn’t want to intrude because what’s happening there is something she doesn’t belong to, belongs to the Champions and Heroes of Galar.

Except that Raihan puts a hand behind her back and makes both of them walk behind Leon, and Raihan leans against him with his hand on the other man’s shoulder and Sonia rests her cheek and chest along the length of his back, and now it’s her turn to offer strength when he needs it because there is nowhere else in the world that she’d rather be.

Finally, when everyone’s emotions seemed to have calmed down, Hop says, “So now what?”

“We have a few choices,” Sonia says, pulling away and heading back to the front of the room. She puts her best Professor face on. “Choice One – release Eternatus back into outer space, or Ultra Space if it’s an Ultra Beast. This course removes the risk for further damage caused by Eternatus, and could be the safest choice.”

“Except that it will drain the Galar region like Rose predicted,” Gloria says from where she’s leaning against her desk, her voice a little wobbly but her words still clear. Her eyes and nose are red but Sonia pretends that she doesn’t see it.

“That’s the biggest downfall. My calculations estimate that it would take less than the thousand years that Rose initially estimated because Eternatus will no longer be supplying Galar particles, even at a baseline level. Probably closer to 200 years.”

“What’s Choice Two?” Raihan asked, dropping back down with the other two men into their chairs.

“We lock Eternatus away forever, drop it into the deepest hole possible and bury it so that it can’t be found,” Sonia says. “It would keep anyone else from using it for awful reasons, and while we would still have the thousand-year drain at some point, but at least we can plan for it.”

“Biggest downfall of this choice is that it’s cruel,” Gloria says. “It might not be from Earth, and it might have the capability to be destructive, but Eternatus is still a Pokémon, and trapping it forever seems so awful. It’s been so alone for so long that I…,” and she drifts off, her hands over her heart as she talks.

“You don’t want to see your Pokémon alone anymore,” Hop says with incredible delicacy.

“No.”

“Is there a Choice Three?” Leon asks.

“We do nothing. We just keep going like this and pray that no one ever finds out about Eternatus’ powers, because there will be politics from all sides demanding action one way or another. And it would be wrong to say that the Galarians don’t get to have an opinion… but this is such a huge problem with so many repercussions that there’s no easy answer,” Sonia explains.

Silence in the room.

Because there is no easy answer.

Sonia recalls Rotom and looks at her watch. _1507_. “I think I’m ready to get plastered. Anyone else?”

All hands go up.

She keeps her promise and buys the first round of drinks; she goes hard with Cinder-Racers to take some of the edge off this afternoon’s talk. Gloria buys the second, deciding on Dark Amnesias that are sweet enough to make Sonia think this won’t be too bad. Raihan buys a round of Wyndon Sunsets and Leon orders the fourth and fifth rounds, and Sonia thinks that they were all really good drinks though she can't remember their names. The five of them get well and truly shit-faced that afternoon, and she genuinely doesn’t keep anything concrete in her head, except that Leon brought both her and Raihan back to his apartment while Gloria took Hop home. They spend the evening talking about anything that comes to mind as long as it’s trivial, and when it’s time to sleep she kicks at both men when they try to put her into Leon’s bed and insists that it’s not proper for her to be the only one using it when she’s the only one who can fit on the couch. The mental image of them sharing the bed – sleeping on opposite sides – makes her giggle from her blanketed fort.

She prefers these ridiculous drunken nothings and the likelihood of a hangover over the thoughts about Rose and Eternatus and a future she can’t predict.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (09/08/2020): Yeah, this bodes well for no one.
> 
> It took a long time to write this chapter because I wanted to make sure that all the actions made sense, and I could explain 'why' to the readers without sounding like I'm flailing around or just carelessly coming up with answers. I hope everything makes sense to you guys.
> 
> Thanks for reading! If you please, I'd be happy to hear your comments/concerns/etc.


	13. The Power of Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. Initially written to be a one-shot introspective piece on Sonia's complicated relationship with Leon that has since spiraled out of my control.
> 
> Chapter 13: “I want to go into the Crown Tundra and find the Galarian Birds because I think they can protect Galar from Eternatus’ power.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Musical Accompaniment: Science, by Thomas Bergersen. Makes for good background music through the chapter as the trio have their back-and-forth
> 
> Thanks again to DezyPhresh for beta-reading this chapter. I'm giving her a very well-deserved break from reading my thesis of a fanfic. 😅

The impressive hangover she wakes up with is echoed in the two men, and they spend all of Saturday popping NSAIDs, drinking tea, and whispering their conversations. It’s a wash. Good thing all their Pokémon are in their balls, or they would really be in trouble.

“Fuck me up the bum, that was not really worth it,” Sonia decides as she sprawls on the couch, arm slung overhead to block out the sun, and her hair in a loose mess rather than the usual ponytail. Leon’s sitting at the opposite side, her feet in his lap and nursing a glass of water.

“I dunno,” Raihan slurs from the loveseat, his legs dangling over the arm and his headband over his eyes. “Haven’t gone on a bender like that in while. Brings me back.”

“Back to last week, perhaps?” Leon half-teases.

Raihan doesn’t have a retort, just holds his middle finger up before flopping his hand down from the effort.

Sonia knows they should probably talk about the Eternatus-Legendary Birds-Galar particle situation while all three of them are there, but she just can’t bring herself to say anything before she brings more pain back to the table. “Leon?”

“Hm?”

“Can… we stay for a little longer?”

He glares at her through one slitted eye. “Are you afraid I’ll tell you both to bugger off?”

“No. Maybe a little. It’s past noon.”

“You are my friends, and I’d never do that,” he says gently, then somewhat wryly adds, “And I’m still hung over. I don’t feel like doing anything.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

He gently rubs her feet with one hand, running his fingers up to her ankles and right back down her toes. Despite his size and the roughness of his battle-worn skin, it’s such a soft touch that she lets out a pleased hum and relaxes into the couch.

“For the love of Arceus, please don’t be fucking while I’m here,” Raihan says without looking up, doing a fabulous job of ruining her mood.

“He was just rubbing my feet,” Sonia retorts, and Leon adds, “We wouldn’t.”

“Better not be,” he mutters back.

“Maybe I _will_ send you both packing,” Leon says.

Her head hurts again and it’s not from the alcohol. “Boys. Please. Spare me and my raging hangover.”

They go quiet for a little while, lost in their own fuzzy thoughts until Sonia finally says, “I think we need a plan.”

“For what?” Leon asks.

“For emergencies. In case Eternatus goes rabid, or Gloria is killed, or something awful like that.”

“Swe- Sonia, I’d love to help, but I’m a little knackered at the moment,” Raihan says.

“I know. Me too. But I’m afraid that if we let it go, we won’t talk about it, and we won’t be ready in case… in case something bad happens.”

Leon sighs. “I told you that you’re both welcome to stay. Why not make it a weekend, and when we’re all properly sober we can talk like adults?”

She would kiss the man if lifting her head didn’t hurt like the dickens. “I’d be up for it.”

“May as well,” Raihan says, waving his hand into the air. “Got nowhere else to be.”

“Good,” Leon says, satisfied with his work as he gently moves Sonia’s legs off his lap. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, time to visit the loo again.”

* * *

The next morning they are actually people again, and Leon’s already making coffee when Sonia wakes up. Raihan’s still passed out in the bed.

“Thank you,” she murmurs as he hands her a cup. She’s not usually a coffee drinker, but she could use the bolstering. He already added cream and sugar, and it tastes good because it comes from him. “How do you feel?”

“Bit better. Lingering headache. Nothing I can’t think through,” he says. He goes to sit on the loveseat, but Sonia sits up and gestures for him to join her. A moment of hesitation and then he’s pressed against her side, warm and strong and a piece that she’s missed for so long. An arm over her shoulder, like he’s done this a million times, and they drink coffee in gentle silence.

“Can I make you something?” she asks. They mostly ate toast and take-out the previous day, having no capacity for cooking, but she feels better and wants to pay both him and Raihan back.

“I don’t think I have much, but you’re welcome to loot the fridge.”

Yeah, he doesn’t have much, but he’s got some eggs and she can start there. “Do you get groceries?”

“I get a cook to come in three times a week to make food for me, with plenty for leftovers while they’re not here.”

_Good Giratina, it must be nice to have that much money._ “Let me make a run.”

Her usual outfit is a touch rumpled – she got out of it and changed into an old tee and sport shorts that Leon had lying around prior to passing out on Friday – but it’ll do. With the coffee in her, she’s got enough energy to hit up the nearest greengrocer’s. She leaves Leon home to have a shower and wake up Raihan while she buys two bags of fruit, vegetables, and other things.

When she returns, both men are awake and clean. Raihan immediately takes the food from her hands and pushes her at the bathroom. “Go take a shower, Sonia. We’ve got this.”

Twenty minutes later, and Sonia emerges a new woman; she borrows a comb off Leon so she can toss her hair into a more casual ponytail, and enjoys the scent of his soap on her skin. When she pops back into the kitchen, Leon is chopping up an avocado and Raihan is scrambling some eggs. There are a handful of plates with different chopped and minced vegetables waiting to be cooked, and a pitcher of iced berry juice on the island.

“You’ve been hard at work,” she says, sliding next to Leon. “What’s on the menu?”

“Vegetable omelets with bacon and avocado toast,” he replies. “I can’t ruin anything by cutting, but Raihan needs help.”

“I know _you_ know your way around a fire,” Raihan comments wryly, and Sonia laughs as she takes the slab of uncut Swinub bacon and starts making some juicy slices for frying. It’s quiet for a few minutes while they’re focusing on their respective jobs, and Sonia enjoys the presence of her two favorite men at her back.

“It’s been a while since we’ve done this. I mean, the last time we shared a fire was back on the Challenge.”

“And I still can’t cook. Reliant on you as usual.”

“How _did_ you survive?”

“Lots of protein bars. Take-out, too. Stuff that’s easy to eat and pack.”

“I’m shocked you don’t weigh 200 kilos, mate.”

“Turn that around. You once ate half a pot of curry meant for six Pokémon.”

“I was a growing lad!”

“You were _twenty_.”

“And fuck you too.”

“Hey, boys, how do you like your bacon? Soft or crispy?”

“Yes.”

“Crispy.”

“Fine, I’ll make half and half. Rai, this pan’s ready for the egg mixture.”

“Aces. Oi, looks like the onions are done caramelizing. Got a plate?”

“Ready and waiting.”

“Should I add some tomatoes into this?”

“Oh certainly. Then give it a taste and tell me if it needs more salt.”

“Mmm, that’s good. I’ll cut up the bread. Where did you buy the loaf?”

“Saw a bakery on the way back. The woman there was charming.”

“I should go visit again.”

“Don’t get lost. It’s a whole two blocks away.”

“Arse.”

“You can delightfully eat all of mine.”

They banter like that through the rest of the morning, and Sonia wishes that they could have been like this for the past five years. That they could have been friends who visit on the weekends, who share their burdens, who cook together and drink together and learn how to save a country together.

They finish eating around one side of the fancy dining table – and they eat almost everything that she’s bought, so she’s either going to have to make another run tonight, or they’ll get take-out _again_ – and take a few minutes to let the food settle before Sonia gets down to business.

And she pulls no punches. “I want to go into the Crown Tundra and find the Galarian Birds because I think they can protect Galar from Eternatus’ power.”

Leon leans back with his arms crossed while Raihan’s eyebrows go up. “Wow. You didn’t come up with that idea just now, have you?”

“No,” she says, shaking her head. “It’s why I called on Monday to talk about it. I’m not certain, but I think it’s possible that Eternatus’ power doesn’t affect them.”

“How so?”

“So two things. First, they’re originally from the Kanto Region. They may have evolved into different secondary typings, but they are not _Galarian_, per se. So it’s possible that they aren’t made up of Galar particles.”

“Wait, hold on a moment,” Raihan says. “So you assume that Galar particles are strictly subatomic particles of the Galar region? Why can’t they be universal?”

“They could be. That’s why I’m saying _it’s possible,_” she explains. “But that leads to my second point. When Eternatus created the Darkest Day back 2000-plus years ago, it didn’t actually have an effect on any other country except Galar. Which is odd, because we share the same continent with Awjosk, Tyber, and Kalos.”

“Maybe Eternatus’ range isn’t large enough,” Leon says.

“Yes, perhaps the _giant, rampaging Eternamax Eternatus_ that can rend the space-time continuum isn’t strong enough to reach past the Crown Tundra and into Awjosk,” she says, probably a little more sharply than necessary. “But I have something beyond sheer speculation.”

She explains the Awjoskian picture she found from Motostoke, and the textbook that explained how the Galarian Birds likely created a defense against Eternatus and protected the outer regions. The two men take her completely seriously, though they offer counterpoints and thoughts to make sure she isn’t chasing after a red Arrokuda.

Doesn’t mean she isn’t truly frustrated when, after an hour of their back and forth, they’ve gotten no further in agreeing to any activity.

“Let’s say that we reach the Birds,” Leon postulates. “What are you going to tell them? That Eternatus might get freed because it happened before, but you don’t know when or where?”

“I realize that there’s nothing concrete going on now, but that’s why this is Plan Z and not Plan A.”

“Do we even have a Plan A?”

“Don’t let Gloria lose Eternatus.”

Leon gestures helplessly to the sky with his hands before they drop into his lap.

“I’m not sure what I’m going to tell them,” Sonia admits. “But I feel like waiting for a problem to happen before we have a back-up plan is going to leave us buggered.”

“What’s your biggest fear?” Raihan asks.

“Honestly?”

“Don’t hold back.”

“That Rose gets his hands on Eternatus again. Or one of his previous underlings does, like Oleana. Because they used it once before and I’d bet money that they’d do it again.”

Leon says, “So the fact that Rose is in prison and Oleana’s on community service isn’t reassuring?”

“It is. But nothing is impossible, because that’s what we thought when Eternatus first got released over Hammerlocke Stadium, isn’t it?”

“Well, let’s circle back. So what happens if it doesn’t work, and the Birds are no help against Eternatus? What do we do?”

She doesn’t know why this question makes her snap, but it does. She almost hears a little **_crack_** in her head, like someone shattering fine china before she loses control.

“I don’t know!” she yells. “I don’t have a bloody clue! I guess it all just goes pear-shaped because I don’t have any other ideas! That’s why I’m coming to you two, and that’s why I want to try _something_ because Arceus knows that I’m at my wits end trying to fix a problem that shouldn’t have been one in the first place!”

Her anger takes both men by surprise – because she’s always been the most level-headed of the trio – and she abruptly stands up. “I need to go for a walk. I’ll be back.”

“Wait, Son-”

She slams the door on Leon’s words, killing them on the wood, but she needs a few minutes alone because the questions she can’t answer are just digging under her skin and she wants to pull them out even if it just gouges the wounds. The elevator ride is smooth as silk, taking her down to the first floor, and she decides to do a lap back towards the bakery because the smells made her feel better. She still has her wallet on her, and when she goes back in, she buys three chocolate chip cookies the size of her hand.

“Hard morning, dear?” the woman behind the counter asks.

“Yeah. But this will help.”

“Well, I hope it works out.”

_Me too,_ she thinks as she heads back outside. She hasn’t taken Yamper out yet, but decides to keep her in the pokéball just to keep things from getting more complicated. Besides, she needs the quiet of her own thoughts.

_Gloria has Eternatus. Rose used Eternatus to kill people. Gloria won’t kill people, but someone might kill her to try and control it_

_Except that Eternatus is Gloria’s Pokémon, and might be the type to wreak havoc if she’s hurt or killed_

_So not only do we have to keep Eternatus from getting stolen, we have to keep Gloria from getting hurt_

_And if Eternatus is taken or somehow brainwashed – can you brainwash an alien Pokémon? – then we have to have a way to fight it_

_Zacian and Zamazenta_

_But they’re not enough, not for a long fight_

_So we need stronger backup_

_The Galarian Bird Trio_

_But we first have to convince them that this is something they’ll want to be involved with, and that the threat is meaningful enough to get them out of the Tundra and into the more habited areas of Galar_

_So we just need to explain that the situation changed, and see if they agree to migrate_

_Great. Perfect. Just… dandy_

This is not any of those things, but Sonia’s back at Leon’s apartment, and she takes the elevator back up before standing in front of the door and bracing herself for the onslaught of anger or frustration from the men.

She rings the bell, and only a few seconds pass before Leon opens it with Raihan standing behind him. They’re all silent for a few seconds before he says, “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. I brought you both something,” she says, holding out the bag. “Sorry I ran off, but I didn’t want to keep yelling at you two since you don’t deserve it. This whole problem can eat shite, but I needed to clear my head before explaining what I’m thinking about.”

Leon lets her in and Raihan takes the bag. “No, it’s a’ight. I’m tired of not having answers, either, and pissed off about it. Thanks for this.”

Leon takes the other one as a non-verbal agreement. The cookies are still warm and gooey, and Raihan takes three bites before it disappears into his stomach. Leon is a little more restrained but it’s evident that he enjoys it too.

They take seats at the table again, and Sonia is much calmer as she says, “My intention is to make the Birds aware of the situation. They know that Eternatus was freed, but they don’t know our concerns. I’m hoping against hope that it’ll encourage them to take a more active part in Galar’s going-ons.”

“I’m almost 100% certain that they won’t agree,” Leon says.

“But if we warn them that something could happen, it’s like having them on alert. Even if they don’t leave the Tundra, they’re aware of the problem.”

“True. They weren’t happy about Eternatus’ release, and had been pretty unhappy when I went to visit a few months after the Darkest Day.”

“Were they worried about something happening?”

“Don’t know. It’s quite difficult to parse out the subtleties of emotion with them.”

She expects that; they’re so old as to be practically alien themselves. “But it’s still worth it because I’d rather they know than not.”

Raihan leans back in his chair. “I’m not too chuffed at the idea of walking through the Tundra just to have the Birds kick our arses for bothering them. _But_,” he continues at the sight of Sonia’s frown, “not trying to use all our resources is a worse idea. Especially since anything can happen at any time, and the Birds’ memories will outlive all three of us.”

“Thank you!” Sonia says.

“I’m just… well, I’m just being overprotective, I think,” Leon admits. “Waffling about this isn’t going to help if something truly dreadful happens.”

“Do you think they’ll hurt us if we visit?”

“No. Maybe. Probably not.”

Raihan shakes his head. “I’ll leave that trip to you two. Have at.”

“Then, let’s plan to go to the Tundra on the 24th, after I’m done with giving away the starters,” Sonia says, marking it in her Rotom’s calendar. She glares at Leon until he does the same. “Now, next topic.”

“Oh good Giratina, let’s take a break,” Raihan groans, standing up and stretching. “Hey Leon, got any Poke-parks around here? Flygon could use some fresh air.”

They take an hour-long break to play with their Pokémon and stretch their legs. It’s the first time that Raihan has seen Boltund as she is now, and Sonia gets to enjoy the sight of both Leon and Raihan playing three-way fetch between Charizard, Flygon, and Boltund.

Her eyes follow Leon – running, laughing, playing – and she can’t stop staring at him because this might be one of the few moments where she’s given the chance to peel away the layers of who he has to be and she can see who he might actually want to be. The Leon who wears the red jacket and black boots and speaks like royalty is someone that makes her want to fall to her knees and swear fealty while filling her with so much awe that she almost can’t bring herself to touch him. This Leon, the one in a snapback and tee and trainers, is so _real_ and _here_ and _alive_ that she would give everything to touch his hand, to kiss his lips, to feel him against the length of her.

_I want to feel him –_

“Sonia!” and his voice brings her back into the now, and she barely tosses her arms up to catch the ball before she sees three Pokémon charging at her.

“AAAAA!” she yells, tossing the ball as high as it will go, and both Flygon and Charizard grab for it while Boltund doesn’t quite have her paws under control so she goes skidding straight ahead, and Sonia and her Pokémon go toppling to the ground in a tangle of limbs and sparks while the two flying Pokémon fall down too and continue to wrestle for ownership of the toy on top of her legs.

“Charizard!” “Flygon!” “Sonia, are you all right?” “Get off her, you huge lugs!”

And once they peel the Pokémon away, Sonia is laughing so hard she’s literally crying, laying on the ground with her hair all frizzy from the electricity and her clothes dirty from the mud and she can’t stop laughing because for a brief sliver of time everything feels good and right and she can just be Sonia with Leon and Raihan just like when they were ten and everything was simple and easy.

“I think they broke her,” Raihan says with bemusement.

“Are you hurt?” Leon asks anxiously.

She hiccups. “No, I’m fine. I swear! They just got a little carried away,” she says as she sits up and pats Boltund’s head before rubbing Flygon and Charizard’s noses. “You were having fun though, right mates?”

The two Pokémon trill in pleasure before Charizard butts itself against her so hard it knocks her right over. She starts laughing again, and Boltund likes the sound so she starts licking Sonia’s face and then Charizard, which makes her laugh harder, and Flygon makes a very huffy noise before pushing his head into her stomach and demanding some attention. She’s overpowered by the three Pokémon, and doesn’t mind a bit.

She hears the click of a shutter, and when she manages to push Boltund aside she can see Raihan standing there, big ole shite-eating grin on his face with his Rotom flashing away, while Leon is kneeling down and giving her a smile that’s equal parts gentle and joyful. “Now that’s the Sonia we all know and love,” he says softly.

It takes a very purposeful effort on her part to make nothing more of the statement one of fondness and not of romance (because this isn’t the time or place for such thoughts), and finally the Pokémon are happy and fed with some purchased curry before they’re recalled into their balls.

“Well, I look a right hot mess,” she sighs, brushing the dirt from her jeans. “You two can’t take me anywhere.”

She sees Raihan actually chew the edge of his hoodie to keep from saying anything while still wearing a smug smile, but Leon says, “Certainly no worse than we look after a good battle. Need to get clean again?”

“Yeah, but that means going home, and we still have plenty to discuss.”

“Yes, we do. Let’s go back to my flat, and we’ll restart the talks while your clothes are cleaned,” Leon says.

Turns out that being a CEO comes with the perks of having almost everything imaginable at a 24/7 convenience rate. Sonia changes _back_ into the borrowed shirt and pants while Leon has a private courier bring her things to a cleaner to be taken care of ASAP.

They start up again. “So the second thing I’d like to address is Gloria,” Sonia begins. “I suggested that she should get her a bodyguard just in case something happens or someone tries to hurt her.”

“Hmm. Not a bad thought,” Leon says, crossing his arms and touching his chin. “I’d not had one-”

“Yeah, she pointed that out to me.”

“-But I also didn’t carry Eternatus either.”

“Glo’s a different person from you anyway,” Raihan says. “And it’s kind of rude to say this, but a lot more people can take Glo in a fight that couldn’t take you.”

“Gloria is plenty strong in her own right, but the point is made. Sonia, would you suggest hiring a security group?”

“That’s a fine idea, particularly when she’s at work or in public.”

“I’ll contact the Galar Police. Perhaps they know some retired or part-time officers who can help with this.”

“We’ll have to put it through Gloria first, though,” Sonia reminds them. “If you can talk to her about it, that would be helpful.”

Leon nods. “Of course.”

“Well, that was easy. What’s left?” Raihan asks.

“The upcoming Gym Challenge.”

“Ah, bloody hell! That’ll throw this into a right mess!”

“That’s my thought too. But this information, while new to us, doesn’t really change anything that it hasn’t changed in the last five years. So I think it should still be safe to continue with the Gym Challenge.”

“Who said it wasn’t?”

“No one. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t think about bringing the suggestion to the League that we should defer the challenge for a year.”

“Why?”

She goes sharp again. “Because the Champion of Galar has a giant dragon from space that can dissolve people into subatomic particles, with no particular range limitation, and maybe – just maybe – parents might get a teensy bit upset to find out their teenagers are going through the Challenge with her, _and that thing_, at the end of the road, and we didn’t warn them about it!”

Raihan lets out a low whistle; Leon goes a little pale.

“Yeah. I thought that might change the perspective a tick.”

“But you’re saying it’s safe?”

“I think it’s safe _enough_,” she said with particular emphasis. “Nothing is certain, and it’s perfectly possible that nothing will happen in the next year to ten to a hundred. But, like with the Birds, I think it’s important that we’ve had this talk and we’ve made the conscious choice to consider the risks and benefits. Because, right now, there are five people in the world who know about this and who want to keep people safe, and we have to be the stewards of that information.”

“How many people are signed up so far?”

“Haven’t checked up an updated registration list, but I imagine it’ll be between the usual 40 to 50.”

“I think this concern brings up another point,” Leon says. “Should we tell the other League members about it?”

“We will have to, at some point,” Raihan frowns.

“Yes, I agree. When?”

Both men shake their head, and Sonia sighs. “That’s what I thought. For the little it’s worth, I think we should talk at the next Monthly Leadership Meeting. It’s on the 22nd, correct? That’s after I start handing out starters and the pokédex.”

“Think so. I’ll let Gloria know. We can hash out details about what to tell people over the next few weeks.”

“Should we have a plan in place in case Eternatus gets loose or accidentally freed?”

Raihan shrugs, Leon looks blank. _So helpful_. “All right, I’ll tell you what. Let’s give our brains a break from all this. You two have someone you’re sponsoring for the Challenge?”

The conversation goes off into a discussion about some of kids they’ve taken a particular interest in. Raihan is sponsoring two teens from Hammerlocke that had been volunteering at the Stadium doing everything from feeding the Pokémon to acting as unpaid tour guides through the castle to straight-up helping with the recent clutch of Deino and Noibat eggs. Leon is sponsoring only one; a young man from the Isle of Armor who is particularly keen on Bug types. Mustard had already sponsored the limited 5 Challengers, all of whom were Fighting type users, but Leon always had an eye for the unique. That broadens out the topic to gossip about the other League member’s endorsements, whether good or bad, and they remember some of the other notable challengers from the last few years.

Sonia herself isn’t allowed to sponsor anyone in order to keep from over-supporting or under-supporting one challenger over another, but she likes hearing about them. It’s almost like listening to the League members talk about their nieces or nephews. She pulls out her phone and taps out a small list of names and Trainer type for reference when she gets back home.

Someone’s stomach rumbles, and all three are shocked to see it’s close to dinnertime. Once Sonia’s clothes return, they decide to go out for a meal. Leon’s no help given his lack of direction, but Raihan’s been around Wyndon enough that he can direct them to a nice restaurant and the three of them indulge in a delightful meal – though they all agree to lay off the liquor tonight. When it’s done, it’s time to part ways.

“Well, this weekend has been a bloody roller coaster of emotions,” Sonia says, fluffing up her hair as she waits for an available Taxi. “Thanks for being there, mates.”

Leon moves first, giving her a hug. “No, thank you for telling us. It… wasn’t pleasant, but I’m glad that we’ll be handling this together. All of us.”

“Me too,” and she lets go before giving Raihan a quick hug. He is careful, so careful, that it’s the same kind of hug she’s seen him give Nessa before letting go first. “Felt pretty good to work together again, right?”

“Always,” he says with appropriate affection.

“And if either of you have a thought or concern, ring us up.”

“Of course. Catch you later, you two,” he says before fist-bumping Leon, calling out Flygon, and heading off towards Hammerlocke without a backwards glance.

They’re silent for a moment before Leon says, “He told me about what happened. That night you went out, I mean.”

Sonia’s stomach drops. “Oh?”

“Yeah. Told me he fancies you. That you turned him down. That… it was probably because of me.”

No point in sugarcoating it. “It was _definitely _because of you. Because, well, you know. I already said it a bunch of times already.”

“Can I hear it again?”

Now she looks at him, really looks into his eyes and sees something shining back at her. “Leon, you know I love you. I-”

And he bends down and kisses her, steals words from her mouth and replaces them with his warmth, and she can’t help but lean into him, wrap her arms around his neck as his hands to go her waist, and it’s not until someone coughs politely that they pull apart.

“Excuse us,” she says to no one in particular, but Leon looks unconcerned.

“I wish I could have done this before,” he says, putting his forehead against hers. “I wish I could change so many things with us.”

Yeah, she feels the same. But she’s taken the time to come to terms with this reality. “Me too. But it is what it is, right? And we’re just going to have to try and see if we really do match, or if this is just a matter of ‘not wanting Miss Right, but Miss Right Now’.”

His brow furrows and he obviously wants to disagree, but a Taxi lands in one of the squares and the cabbie jumps down. “You two ready?”

“Oh, it’s just me,” Sonia says, releasing her touch on Leon before waving to him. “I’ll see you next week.”

“Yes. I’ll come to you,” he says, fire in his eyes like she’s his sun, and goosebumps jump onto her skin. “Goodbye, Sonia.”

“Goodbye, Leon.”

He continues to stand there, watching as she takes off in her Taxi, and Sonia feels a flame in her chest because _he’s looking at me and nowhere else_ until Wyndon is just a spark of light in the distance and her home is a comforting darkness that wraps her up and rocks her to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes: 10/06/2020: Power Trio for the win! I wrote this chapter because I love watching them interact.💜🧡💙
> 
> So I have a Very Important Career Exam coming up in November that I must study for. As such, I'm taking a break from scheduled updates and writing. This pisses me off because I wanted to update this story before the Crown Tundra information came out because I absolutely REFUSE to ret-con anything that happens in this story. So all the upcoming chapters are written with no prior knowledge of the DLC and WILL REMAIN THAT WAY. I apologize, then, for any inconsistencies and any characters/Pokemon that may show up in the DLC that I don't acknowledge, along with any information about the Galarian Legendary Birds, but I am equally unapologetic about doing this my way.
> 
> Thanks to everyone for reading, and for your understanding.
> 
> ... And one last thing! So when I wrote this chapter, I wrote a second variation of it. One that is explicitly adult (hint hint hint). If there is any interest in seeing it, please let me know. I might post it once we are a little farther into this story.


	14. Ride of a Lifetime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. Initially written to be a one-shot introspective piece on Sonia's complicated relationship with Leon that has since spiraled out of my control.
> 
> Chapter 14: Yes, she thinks. This is the man I waited almost twenty years to have in my life. And I think… I still think he’s worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Musical Accompaniment: Above the Clouds, by Kavin Hoo. Played after the duo really get into their trip together and can be played to the end of the chapter.
> 
> Thanks to DezyPhresh for her beta-reading help. She really helped me make sure this was a good chapter, considering all the moving parts, and I owe her a great deal. Thanks, girl!
> 
> This is a VERY long chapter. Consider it an offering from a penitent writer for taking a long time to finish this.

Sonia keeps so busy through the week that she doesn’t think much of the upcoming weekend. The last day for registration as a Gym Challenger is next Monday, which gives her enough time to make sure that she has enough baby Pokémon ready for adoption. The Gym Leaders are really good about getting her their letters – though Raihan sends his through a text message and she might just have to strangle him because _really Mister Hammerlocke Gym Leader? That’s the best you can do?_ – and this also happens to be the first year that Hop sponsors someone. The League gave him special dispensation, considering his position as Sonia’s assistant and a soon-to-be-Professor, though he only has one endorsement to everyone else’s five.

“Yeah, there’s this girl in Turffield who works at the Pokémon Center. She’s trying to get into Poke-Nursing school when she’s older, but she’s got this way with Pokémon that’s absolutely brill!” he says while they’re video chatting on Wednesday. “Name’s Elora, so keep an eye on her for me.”

“She’s already on my list,” Sonia notes. “Make sure to send me the letter of endorsement.”

“Oh, right! My brain’s been full of rubbish since this weekend. I’ll send it now.”

“Thanks, Hop. Sorry to have tossed a load on you.”

“Well, after what you all said last Friday, I thought I’d better start taking myself more seriously and be prepared to help if things go to pot. It was really an honor that you had me there, and I want to make sure I’m doing right by everyone.”

“You’re doing just fine, love. And you’re sure you don’t mind watching the babies and eggs this weekend?”

“Course not! I’ll be in Postwick for the party anyway. I’ll set my phone to accept the incubator’s readings Friday night, be by Saturday morn’ and eve’, Sunday morn’, and then see you at the party that afternoon.”

“Thank you again, Hop”

“No worries. Better go; see ya!”

“Ta!” and he hangs up to go back to work.

Sonia checks through her most updated list. So far there are only 26 names listed, but she’s certain she’ll get at least another 2 or 3 on the Monday that registration closes at 12PM sharp. Somewhere between now and then, she’ll get the remaining 20 – plus or minus a few. But the earlier the better, as Challengers get to pick their partner based on submission rank. She’ll have some Pokémon set aside for specific requests, though. There’s one boy who’s blind and is requesting either a Growlithe or a Riolu as his primary partner, and another girl who’s got a learning disability that makes it difficult to verbally communicate, so Sonia figures either a Solosis or Ralts would do well for her. Otherwise, she’ll have at least a dozen of the “usual three” in addition to 15 eggs that were abandoned at the Nurseries. There are some eggs that the Gym Leaders have brought, such as the two Chewtle from Nessa’s Drednaw and the three Applin from Milo’s recent clutch that each generously offered, and those tend to go quickly since they often have hidden talents. Eevee galore, Rookidee and Blipbug and a few Pikachu because they’ve been in fashion ever since Red took the Championship in Kanto all those years ago… yeah, she’s got plenty to think about.

She has also been in the lab for nearly 18 hours a day this whole week. The babies started hatching with a vigor, and while they have their pokéballs to sleep in when it’s nighttime, they very much need human contact to help them get comfortable with a potential partner. Once they’ve been adopted, she can go back to living at her house like a normal person, but these two weeks are the hardest she has during the year because they are so damn relentless. As it is, she has Boltund and Toxtricity acting like big siblings to help keep the babies entertained while Lapras, Dracozolt, and Centiskorch are much better at modeling good behavior and correcting bad habits.

And she _still_ has to make plans for visiting the Birds. Turns out that her mum still has her old Tundra clothes, so Sonia doesn’t have to buy anything but a new pair of arctic boots and gloves. But it’s stuff she has to do on top of her League responsibilities, and there just aren’t enough hours in the day anymore.

So when there’s a knock on the door, Sonia tries not to sound too annoyed when she says, “It’s open!” while trying to calm a newborn Eevee. “Shh, it’s all right, sweetie. Everything’s a mite scary when you’re little, isn’t it?”

“Sure is,” and it’s Leon’s voice at her shoulder, but it’s warm and soft rather than booming and boisterous. The Eevee continues to writhe in her arms, so he carefully takes it and drapes it over his arm like a four-legged blanket. “But see, we’re here to chase away the scary-ness. Doesn’t that feel better?”

At first it continues to make tragic squeaking noises, but as his hand runs down its back and scratches that _oh-so-good_ spot on its back, the Eevee calms down. It’s so disorienting to look at him now, wearing the CEO outfit while cuddling a newborn Pokémon like he was working in a nursery. “What brings you to this part of Galar, Mr. Terrene?”

He snorts, then apologizes to the Eevee for making it jump. “Sorry, little one. I’m here for two reasons. One, I spoke to Gloria about the bodyguard issue. She’s not happy but has agreed to do it on the condition that it’s not until the Gym Challenge starts.”

“Why not now?”

“She says she doesn’t do much traveling right now, and I would agree with that. She’s mostly in Wyndon either at the Stadium or at her house, so setting up a security detail now may be a waste of money with the MC employees already in place. And since someone has to pay for it, she’s being frugal.”

Well, that’s a point that Sonia can’t fault. It’ll either come down to the League, Leon, or Gloria herself paying the service, and since she’s got no money on table Sonia doesn’t have much input.

“She did, however, mention to me that she’s already got someone in mind to help keep an eye on the Stadium and on her. He’s not a professional guard, but she thinks he’s “kenning enough”.”

“Who is it?”

Leon shrugs. “Didn’t say.”

Unlike Gloria to be so vague, but whatever. “And what’s the second reason you’re here?”

He leans forward and kisses her, resting against her like she’s the drink of water he’s needed all day. When he pulls back, he’s wearing a grin. “Just to visit. And I got to see you all done-up in your Pokémon Professor wear.”

There are only a few babies inside; the older ones are outside with her Pokémon in the fenced-in yard. But that still means there’s a Grookey on her leg, a Caterpie in one lab pocket and an Applin in the other, and three Sobble cuddling under the table. She can only imagine what she looks like to Leon right now.

“If you laugh at me, Mr. Terrene, if you so much as smile wrong I can promise you’ll never get another whiff of a story about any rare or Legendary Pokémon for as long as you live.”

“I wouldn’t dare,” he says, still stroking the Eevee. “In fact, I’m rather enchanted by this. You look quite maternal surrounded by all these little ones.”

“These are the ones hatched in the past 24 hours. If you’re looking for some of the older ones to play with, you’re welcome to go outside.”

“No, I’m just fine right here.”

Having him in her space is really starting to fluster her; she feels so off her game and the banter doesn’t flow like usual. Last time he was here she thoroughly kicked him out after screaming about her emotional instability related to him. Now he’s standing with her, holding an Eevee with practiced ease, and chatting like this is his second home.

_Maybe he’s not too far off the mark. And when at home…. _“Well, if you’re really here just to visit, I might end up putting you to work.”

“You can use me all you like.”

That phrase goes straight past her throat and into her pelvis, and she has this vivid image of him sitting in a chair and her riding him until she’s the one who’s all used up and great, now she’s going to be a mentally wretched mess for the rest of the day thanks to that. But Leon waits for her response, patient as a stone, so she finally says, “Okay. Well, these seven need pokéballs. None of the other eggs are ready to hatch today, so this should be it. I wanted to have it done _en masse_ so they could see how easy it is.”

“Not a problem. What can I do?”

“I have the pokéballs lined up on the desk next to the computer. We’re going to have to bring the babies over because I need to match a pokéball barcode with a Pokémon.”

She drags herself over, carefully lifting her foot to keep from dislodging the Grookey and holding her jacket steady so the two won’t fall out of her pockets, before taking a graceless seat. “Would you be a love and gather the Sobble?”

He doesn’t respond, just bends down and gently coos at them. It takes a few minutes of patience before the triplets have allowed themselves to be gathered in his arms and he can bring them over to her desk. “So who’s first?”

The Applin has been the quietest of the bunch, so she carefully pulls it out and cradles it in her arm. She opens the program on her computer, lines up with the row for Ball #17 (which is empty), and scans its code on the bottom of the ball. It auto-populates a few cells, then lands on the ‘Pokémon’ cell.

“Here, you do it,” she says, holding it out to Leon.

She’s caught him off-guard, which is more fun than it should be. “Me? Are you certain?”

“Of course. If I scan and you catch, this will go quite fast.”

He juggles the Sobble onto his shoulders, their little tails curled and holding onto him for dear life, before taking the pokéball. But he’s done this before, she knows, and he just smiles at the Applin.

“All right, little one, let’s get you a new home,” he says softly as he holds the ball up to it. “This is a pokéball. It’ll keep you safe and sound just by pressing this button. See?”

He taps the release mechanism against the Applin’s skin and it’s quickly pulled inside. The pokéball hums for a few seconds, which is always the most nerve-wracking three seconds of her life, before settling down and the release mechanism self-locks.

_Yes! One down!_ “There, now, you see?” she says to the others watching. “Not so bad. Come on out, Applin, and show them you’re right as rain.”

Leon releases it back onto the desk, obviously no worse for the wear, and it softly squeaks at the Grookey that’s poking it with its stick. She types in ‘Applin’ for the cell before moving down to Ball #18. “So who’s next?”

With him helping, it goes a touch faster than usual. She scans a pokéball, hands it to him, and he catches the Grookey, the Caterpie, the three Sobble, and finally the Eevee. It’s the last one, attempting to wriggle out of his grip before yowling pitifully at them when he won’t let it run away.

“Now, now, you behave yourself,” Leon gently chastises the baby. “Someday, you’re going to be someone’s partner, and they’ll be their best if you be your best, too.”

It sulks as he holds the pokéball up to it but doesn’t fight and doesn’t escape; the lock falling into place is a relief, and all the newly hatched Pokémon are in their pokéballs.

“Now what?”

“Now we leave them here overnight to recuperate. I’ll release them with the others tomorrow morning to get some socialization, and repeat the cycle all over again for anyone that’s hatched.”

“How do the eggs look?”

“Impressive! Come see!” and she hops up and takes him to the incubator, which is now almost bursting with eggs. “I rotate the ones that are due to hatch closer to the door so that I can reach them better, and the ones who have longer are farther away so they get more consistent incubation temperatures.”

“Those ones are wiggling.”

“Yes, I expect those four to hatch tomorrow.”

“What if they hatch overnight?”

“The alarm for temperature monitoring is connected to my phone. If one of the eggs spike more than five degrees for longer than fifteen minutes, then I know it’s going to hatch within two hours and I’ll come in to take it out of the incubator, catch it in a pokéball, and then go back to sleep.”

“You could be up all night! And all day!”

“It’s hard, no question,” she admits, “but it’s only for these two weeks. Going out with you this weekend will be a holiday.”

“Isn’t there anyone else to help?”

“Hop did when he was here. We’d rotate every other day so each of us got a good night’s sleep.”

“But he’s not here!”

“It’s just me, Leon. Relax. I’ve done this for years, and I’ll be fine.”

“Well, what if I got someone to help?”

“Who are you thinking? And I swear to Arceus, if you say ‘me’ I’m going to smack the purple out of your hair,” she says quickly. “You need to do your job just as I need to do mine. If you want to find someone who has experience hatching eggs and would be willing to do it for a nominal fee then let me know, but don’t offer yourself when I know you have too much on your plate.”

He looks frustrated, almost helpless. “It just bothers me that you’re so overwhelmed.”

“It’s only for the next two weeks. Once the babies get adopted, then I’m home free and I can sleep for 36 hours straight.” She gives him a cheeky smile. “Just remember, I did this for the past five years, and you didn’t know at that time, did you?”

He looks away, and Sonia momentarily wonders if maybe she’s pushed his ignorance in his face just a little too much. But then he meets her eyes again and says, “You have done a brilliant job. Sorry I didn’t see it before.”

“You know, you can spend all your time being sad that you missed knowing so much about me… or you can spend your time being happy that you finally get to see what I’ve made of myself.”

One second she’s standing in front of the incubator, the next she’s being pulled into a hug that swallows her up like the sea, holds her against a broad chest, a cheek with a hint of a beard, arms that could be steel I-beams carried by Gurdurr. She can’t see anything more than red and white and violet and she just closes her eyes because he radiates heat and it makes her want to fall asleep in it, curl up like a Nickit and bury herself in his scent.

“Would you let me help right now?”

“Uhm, yes? I mean, I did, didn’t I?”

“Not that. If there’s nothing else to do, why not go home and get some sleep? I’ll watch your babies until you get back.”

That offer sounds ridiculously tempting. “Are you sure you don’t have to leave at the drop of a hat?”

“I think I can be away from work for an hour or two. That’s the lovely thing about Rotoms.”

“Well, if you think you can….”

“Is there something complicated that you think I couldn’t do?” he asks without a trace of defensiveness.

“No, not really. You’re fine with baby Pokémon, right?”

“I’ve got a few friends to help if need be,” he says, gently tapping the pokéballs on his hip.

He was the one who provided Gloria and Hop with their starters, had been a Champion for 15 years, and obviously a pro when it came to Pokémon in general, so there is no reason to doubt his abilities. “All right. How about for an hour?”

“Done.”

She steps outside and carefully introduces him to the baby Pokémon, and while some of them are a little skittish, he brings out Charizard and Dragapult. Now it’s like having Real Grown-Ups around, and the babies start playing and begging for attention. She leaves Boltund and Lapras with Leon but returns the other three to their pokéballs before giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks, Leon. I really appreciate the help.”

He’s almost glowing. “My pleasure. For certain.”

It’s a fifteen-minute walk home, and Sonia doesn’t bother to go upstairs. She kicks off her shoes, sets a timer, grabs one of the throws, and falls into a dead sleep on the couch.

And when she wakes up the hour later, she’s not exactly well-rested, but she does feel better than she did before.

It doesn’t hurt that she sneaks back quietly enough that she can watch Leon playfully wrestle with a few of the babies, getting his coat and trousers dirty and looking like a million pokédollars while he does it. He laughs with his eyes and doesn’t seem concerned when a Scorbunny gnaws on his fingers.

_Yes,_ she thinks. _This is the man I waited almost twenty years to have in my life. And I think… I still think he’s worth it._

* * *

Sonia: **So what time should I be ready for you tomorrow?**

Leon: **Id like to be by around 7 everything starts at 8**

Sonia: **I admit to being curious what you’ve got in mind so early on a Saturday**

Leon: **Hoping you enjoy it really hoping you do**

Sonia: **I’m sure I will. I’ll pack an overnight bag, yes?**

Leon: **Yes also do you have a nice dress**

Sonia: **Level of nice?**

Leon: **Fancy but dont spend lots of money**

Sonia: **OK I’ll find something**

Sonia: **Should I bring anything else besides an overnight bag?**

Leon: **Change of clothes on the trip but no jeans**

Leon:** Wear not jeans outfit first bring dress for dinner**

Leon: **Change of clothes for hops party**

Sonia: **Pokémon?**

Leon: **Boltund if you want but leave the others at home**

Leon: **I want this to be just you and me**

Sonia: **Then, I’ll bring just Boltund in her ball**

Sonia: **Really on pins and needles for tomorrow now**

Leon: **Sonia**

Sonia: **?**

Leon: **I think i get why you were so upset now**

Sonia: **Too vague, try again**

Leon: **When I cancelled the date before i thought it wasn’t a big to-do because there was always next time**

Leon: **But when i think about you cancelling on me it hurts**

Leon: **A lot**

Leon:** A lot like losing a battle i really cared about**

Leon: **So im going to keep trying to do my best for you**

Sonia: **That’s all I ever wanted**

Sonia: **Better get to bed though**

Sonia: **Tomorrow’s coming up quick**

Sonia: **Good night**

Leon: **Good night**

* * *

He’s there at 7AM sharp, and Sonia is certain that he either had someone walk him down to her house, or Charizard flew him there directly. When she opens the door, she’s unsurprised to see that Charizard is there, looking pleased as pie with himself.

But it’s Leon that catches her attention, wearing dark gray slacks with a deep maroon button-down shirt. His hair is loose around his shoulders, and he has a faint hint of aftershave that she’s never smelled before. It’s warm and a little spicy and it’s probably a bad thing that she’s already starting to salivate. Good thing her mouth is closed. Odd, though, that he’s carrying his own suitcase. Weren’t they going to Wyndon? Or was she just assuming that?

“You look great,” Leon says with a bright smile, and Sonia flushes. She’s just wearing jeans and a tee as a placeholder while she packed her bag.

“Oh, I’m not even ready,” she says, shuffling him in after Charizard is back in his pokéball and shutting the door. “What time should we leave from here?”

“7:30.”

_Cutting it real close, Magnolia_, she chides herself. “Sorry I’m a bit tardy. A minute, if you don’t mind?”

“I’m happy to wait here. Boltund!”

“Hey!” she snaps at her Pokémon. “No jumping on Leon! We look nice today. “

Boltund tilts her head in confusion – Leon is always up for playing – but she gracefully respects her trainer and instead starts a rousing game of fetch. Sonia dashes back upstairs to the master bathroom and begins changing her plans.

Instead of going wild with her makeup and outfit, she changes into a vivid green shirt with a soft collar and airy sleeves that tucks right into her sleek cream-colored trousers and shows off her hips and curves. She keeps her hair in the usual side ponytail but forgoes any hair decorations, since she’ll have to change it up for dinner tonight anyway. Makeup is simple; foundation, a bit of blush, some light green eyeshadow that will be easy to clean off later, and peach lipstick. A pair of nude heels, and now she’s good to go. Nice, but not over-the-top. When she comes downstairs, carefully dragging down her wheeled travel bag, Leon stops what he’s doing to stare at her.

It’s a touch unnerving. “What?”

“Nothing. You look lovely.”

She smiles. “Thanks. I’m actually impressed with you, too.”

“Don’t be; I had help.”

“Oh?”

“Gloria. She picked my outfits.”

_Zacian bless her_. “I still like it.”

“And I could stare at you all day, but I think we better get a move on. Here.”

He hands her Boltund’s pokéball (which is dropped into her purse after collecting her Pokémon), and offers his hand. She’s not looking forward to walking in these heels, but she’s delightfully surprised when she sees a Taxi right outside.

“How far are we going?”

“Just to the station, but I didn’t want you to walk in your lovely outfit,” he says, leading her in. “It’s a quick jaunt.”

Instead of a fifteen-minute walk, it’s literally a three-minute flight to the Wedgehurst railway station. Sonia’s grateful for it, because this would have been an unpleasant way to start the morning if she were bleeding this early on. Once they arrive, she’s surprised as Leon takes her around to a separate track.

“Where are we going?” she asks with genuine bewilderment.

“Wedgehurst has a second station,” he explains as they take an escalator down beneath the tracks. As soon as they reach the landing, there’s an almost rustic train waiting on the tracks. Now the confusion is so evident on her face that Leon lets out a barely muted snort.

“Let’s get situated, shall we?” he says, leading her forward towards one of the cars. A train manager is standing outside looking sharp, and she smiles when the couple step forward.

“Good morning. Can I see your tickets?”

“Certainly,” and Leon pulls them from his pocket. The manager gives them a quick once-over and then leads them inside.

“Welcome to the Green Palace,” she says to them. “First time?”

“Yes, for both of us.”

“Then we’re certainly glad to have you. Let me give you a little tour of our train,” she says, then gestures around herself while walking.

It’s a train in the same sense that Pidoves and Rayquaza are both Flying-type Pokémon; technically true though it didn’t even begin to encompass the vast differences. The first car they enter seems to be primarily for entering and exiting the train. Following that is the main dining car, divided into tables of two and four and each set with candles, fine china dishes, and gold-and-silver utensils carefully placed. Upon closer inspection, Sonia can see paintings on the walls of the cars with very stylized Pokémon; Milotic, Primarina, Gardevoir, and more. The number of details is stunning, to say the least.

“This is the first dining car; we’ll pass through the second on the way to the other cars. Your table has already been reserved right here, and when you want to eat you simply have to take a seat and ring the bell. One of the wait-staff will be by shortly thereafter. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will all be provided. If you are a round-trip guest, you will be offered the same meals on the way back to Wedgehurst.” The guard leads them through another set of doors. “This is the observation car. You are welcome to sit and relax as you enjoy the scenery of the Galarian countryside. There’s a second one after the last sleeping car, in case you want to watch the world drift behind you. There are only thirty-six people allowed on the Green Palace per trip, but this room is the liveliest and you’ll find yourself chatting with friends you didn’t know you had.”

That sounds like a bit much to Sonia, a consummate history/Pokémon nerd who prefers to skip small talk, but she’s be willing to go out of her comfort zone just because this is so new and she’s got nothing to lose. On the other hand, this is her first date with Leon, and she doesn’t want anything to get in the way of their private time.

They head to the final area. “These are the sleeping cars. Your suite is located right here,” she explains before punching in a code and opening the automatic door. It leads to a room about half the size of a hotel room, but there’s a king-sized bed and a small bathroom with a shower and a toilet. Like the other cars, there is ornate décor around the walls and lights. “Your code is listed on the inside of the room, so please don’t forget it. You are allowed to use this room through the course of your visit, and we ask that you leave your luggage items here. The only Pokémon allowed in the public cars are those under 60 centimeters tall; there’s a height chart next to the door if you need a reference. Is there anything else that you require?”

“No, this is plenty,” Leon says warmly.

“I ask that you wait here until the train ride begins. You will hear an overhead message once we are in motion, then you are free to roam between the cabins. You are staying through the whole trip, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Then please make yourself at home, and we hope you enjoy your ride,” she says before shutting the door and leaving the two of them to one another. Leon sets the bags down as Sonia stares at everything.

“What is this?” she finally asks.

“It’s our first date.”

“Yes, I know, but… what is this?”

Leon shows her a map on one of the train car’s walls. It’s Galar, all the way from Wyndon to the Crown Tundra to the Isle of Armor. It’s a very simplified topographical map with the only two symbols; dots for cities that are appropriately named, and a railroad track running the length of the country.

“We are going on a round-trip train ride through Galar, starting here in Wedgehurst,” and he first trails his finger down into the Crown Tundra, “down here where we can see the southern-most tip of Galar and the blossoming Dyna Tree. Then we’ll shoot back north into Motostoke, do some sightseeing through the Arts District, then come back for a ride into the Wild Area and pass by Turffield’s hills.”

His finger continues to rise. “We’ll go through Hammerlocke and have a chance to walk along their Museum Street, then go through Stow-on-Side’s gold stone road and around the Glimwood Tangle just as night is falling before ending up in Wyndon this evening. The booking comes with a stay at the Rondelands, hence my own luggage, and in the morning it departs back down.

“We’ll slide through Circhester’s mountain region, ride the seaside edge of Spikemuth, and then go east into the ocean before we circle around the Isle of Armor. Not so much walking around tomorrow, but it’ll come back into Hulbury and the Merchant’s Port for a time before making our final stretch back into Wedgehurst, where we should arrive back just in time for Hop’s party.”

She is stunned by the whole thing. Getting the chance to see all of Galar – the hills and formations of the Wild Area, the secret nooks of the cities, the mountains of the Tundra, and even the waters of the Isle – sounds like a dream she didn’t know she had. “I… I don’t even know what to expect right now. Leon, this must have cost a fortune!”

He gives her a half-amused, half-exasperated look. “Of the many things I want you to think about, the cost of this trip is not one of them.”

“Oh gods, it did, didn’t it?”

“Sonia, listen,” and he stands in front of her, puts his hands on her upper arms, and makes her meet his eyes. “Think of it this way. If I were a smarter man – and I’m not – I would have taken you on plenty of dates and trips over the years, right?”

“I… suppose?”

“And I would have treated you, right?”

“I hardly think I could have stopped you,” she mutters.

“So let’s pretend that this isn’t one expensive trip. Think of it as a combination of trips that we never took before. Fair?”

In truth, she’s so excited inside that she can barely stand to be in the same room as him, her energy making her want to dance up and down the corridors. She manages to nod and say, “All right. I won’t think about it anymore,” before her energy gets the best of her, and she throws herself into his arms. “Leon, I’m so chuffed! I’m just… oh, I’m all a-flutter! This will be fantastic, and I can’t wait, and thank you so much!”

He hugs her back, warming her up with his touch, and Sonia doesn’t even realize how natural it feels when he tilts her head up and kisses her. It feels so easy, so _right_ to hold him and be held back. _We could have had this before,_ a snide little part of her thinks, but another part pushes it down.

_We have it now. Let’s see if it lasts._

The speaker overhead crackles before a tinny voice is heard. “Ladies and gentlemen, the train will depart in five minutes. If you have not already been brought to your cabin, please make your way there at this time. Once again, the train will depart in five minutes. Thank you.”

Leon smiles against her lips. “Think we can entertain ourselves for five minutes?”

She lets just a touch of sass escape. “I can last that long. Can you?”

A deep little chuckle. “Well, now it’s a battle, and you know that I don’t lose battles.”

He really doesn’t and soon she’s making funny, high-whisper noises into the air as he kisses her mouth, her neck, down her arms and the tips of each finger. She’s made electric by him and she knows this because her hair is standing on end, all the way from her nape down to her toes. Sonia has to be careful because every now and then she can hear voices pass by as other passengers get to their suites, but he is not making it easy; he’s never made it easy for her before.

His hands start getting clever with her shirt, carefully pulling it from her pants, when another announcement crackles overhead. “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard the Green Palace. I’m the train driver, Joshua Henn, and I’m pleased as punch to be with you here today. We’ll be setting off towards the Crown Tundra in just a moment, so I’d like to ask everyone to take a seat in their rooms and enjoy the view. From now on, Shannon, one of the train managers, is going to let you know when it’s safe to travel outside your rooms or when you have to return. Thanks, everyone, and let’s have a corking time.”

A sigh from him. “I’d hate to stop, but I’d hate for you to fall even more.”

“Likewise,” she says breathlessly before tucking her shirt back in. She was leaning against the wall, but with that suggestion, both her and Leon walk over to the bed and open the blinds on the window.

“Too bad. I do think I was winning,” he says, and Sonia gives him a playful smack on the bicep that he ignores just as the train gives a lurch. “Ah, here we go!”

She takes his hand, just like when they were children and she was the first to reach out, and watches the station start to pull away, watches the darkness of the walls but then light suddenly explodes around them, and they’re traveling south (she can tell because she’s seen these train tracks that rise up near the lab but never thought much of where they went and now she knows) and the weather is still bright and clear so that as the tracks lift up over the suburbs she can see for miles around, see the ocean in the distance and the white of the Tundra shining ahead and it’s not until she hears Leon let out a soft chuckle that she realizes she’s actually pressed against the window with her mouth half-open.

“I so rarely get to see you out of sorts, but this is quite a treat,” he says. She’s too excited by the trip to take any umbrage from the statement.

Another announcement overhead that it’s safe to get up and walk, and Leon pulls her up to her feet. “Did you have breakfast?”

“No.”

“Then, shall we?”

“Absolutely!”

They hold hands on the way back to the dining car, and their table has ‘Terrene’ written on a little card in fancy handwriting. He gets her seat, then takes his own. A few other couples or families have started to appear but the majority of sound she hears is the train traveling over the tracks. They don’t even have to ring the bell – Sonia hadn’t immediately wanted help just so she could get her bearings and enjoy the view from the window while they settle themselves – before a server appears.

“Hello, and welcome,” a young man just a few years older than Hop or Gloria comes to their table, his uniform knife-cut creased and hair slicked back all proper. He’s carrying two glasses of water, which he sets down before handing them menus from his waist-apron. “My name is Martin, and I’ll be taking of care of you this morning. Would either of you two care for coffee or tea?”

“I’ll take the coffee. Regular.”

“And you, ma’am?”

“Tea, please.”

“Just a minute, please,” and he returns with a box of different teas in fancy little sachets. “We have classic black teas, green teas, white teas, and some herbals.”

Sonia’s a little overwhelmed, but decides to go with the _sencha_ from Hoenn. She takes a picture and hopes to ask Kabu what he thinks of it, and Martin returns with a pot of hot water in a Nion-styled teapot, a teacup, and various things for steeping into the water. He also brings back Leon’s coffee cup and a small pot of regular coffee to leave on the table.

“I’ll be back in a jiff to get your order,” he says, then floats off to help someone else. Sonia takes a moment to absorb everything before shaking her head.

“This is so much,” she whispers. “I mean, look at this! Edible flowers to decorate my tea!”

Leon tilts his head in curiosity as he picks up a cube of sugar from the bowl on the table. “Which one will you use?”

“No idea. I suppose I should at least steep the tea,” she mutters, then drops the fancy little bag into the top of the pot. While it sits, she glances through the menu. There are no prices listed; she assumes this is like a hotel and everything is charged to the “suite”. Just as well, because some of these dishes look pricey and she does not want to flip out more than she has already. In the end, she orders an upscale version of a quiche with indulgent ingredients while Leon orders a rather sweet-sounding meal of espresso pancakes with a mocha drizzle. Martin has phenomenal timing, and after he gets their order he promptly leaves them alone until their meal is ready, then gives them their privacy until it is evident that they’re both well and truly done with eating. And Sonia is grateful because she’s secretly afraid that people are going to recognize Leon – correction, a few people already have – but no one has come to pester him for attention, and she is happy that she’s the only person he’s looking at.

Because they talk. And they laugh, and watch the land change from green to silver, and he soon they’re in the Crown Tundra proper, looking at the rolling mountains of white beauty and the sparkling diamond-dust that sprays around the train as it passes through, and he tells her about the different Pokémon in the area, particularly a few Legendary Pokémon that have migrated over from Unova. Sonia is enthralled by the idea of additional Legendaries that aren’t native to Galar – because perhaps they could help too – and Leon talks to her like they’re equals and not like she’s a child to lecture. When they’re finished eating, Leon leads her back into the observation car. There are seats with tables between them, and single seats that offer the chance to privately watch the world slide by, but they find a loveseat and rest together. When he tosses a casual arm over the back and offers her a shoulder to lean against, Sonia takes it. She couldn’t refuse him anything.

“I know we’re just an hour and a half in,” she says softly, “but this has really been amazing. I’m… thank you. Thank you for this.”

He drops a kiss against her temple, and they go silent as the world passes by. For once, this silence doesn’t feel imposing, doesn’t feel like it takes up space between them or fill her with guilt. Rather, it’s an affirmation; they can be in their own heads and still be together.

Well, Sonia gets so far into her head that she falls asleep against him. The next thing she remembers is a gentle hand brushing against her cheek and someone whispering her name. She blinks awake, and it takes a few seconds for the sight to really impress itself on her. In the distance is the Dyna Tree, blooming in bright red and reaching into the sky with impressive vigor. She glances around and sees other passengers starting to crowd around the opposite side of the train – the side that will be facing the Tree as they go around it – and she says, “Sorry about that. Still not caught up on sleep.”

“Don’t be. Come on, let’s try the other car.”

They walk through the sleeping cars – Sonia leading now, because apparently Leon’s poor sense of direction extends to which way he needs to travel through the train – and it’s much less crowded here. Even better, there’s a little standing platform that no one else has taken, so they step outside. It’s cold out, and Leon immediately puts her in front of him and wraps his arms around her for warmth, but she doesn’t expect they’ll be outside for long.

She’s never been to the Crown Tundra in recent memory, and she never traveled this far south before. The only images she has of the Dyna Tree is in pictures, but this! This is completely unbelievable. The Tree is bigger than she could have imagined, and no words could do it justice for how much it fills her vision even though they have to be at least half a kilometer away. She’s got her Rotom on her, but somehow using it now just doesn’t feel right. Doesn’t feel like any picture she could take would equal the one in her memory.

“Is that… is that a Dynamax Greedent in there?!”

“Yes. It doesn’t care for visitors.”

She gives him a sideways glance, but Leon’s got this huge grin on his face as he looks at it. “You’ve battled it before, haven’t you?”

“A time or two.”

“Oh good gods.”

Suddenly, his grip tightens around her waist and his voice goes cold. “Sonia, don’t move.”

The change in him makes her blink as she turns her head, and she immediately lets out a gasp at the sight of a violet bird with black markings is flying in front of them as it follows the train. It’s almost exactly her height, which is incredibly unnerving, and it looks at them with eyes that are so blue they could lift her into the air and drop her down. Her heart starts racing, but Leon’s arms are power and protection and she doesn’t cower before this Pokémon.

**“_LEON OF TERRENE_.”**

Sonia’s mouth drops open as the words pierce into her head, shoving a voice that is not auditory but definitely audible into her, and Leon takes a sharp breath through his nose. He recovers more quickly than she does.

“Articuno. You shine with the glory of a thousand-thousand years of perfection.”

**“_YOU ARE NO LONGER WELCOME IN OUR LAND, YOU WHO HAS BEEN REJECTED BY THE DARKNESS, YOU WHO HAS BEEN UNCROWNED BY SHE-WHO-IS-QUEEN_.”**

“I am here only to visit and show off the beauty of your land to one who means much to me.”

**“_YOU INTEND TO COME BACK. I HEAR IT IN YOUR THOUGHTS._”**

“Yes. But not today.”

And now Articuno meets Sonia’s eyes again. **“_YOU FEAR FOR YOUR LAND. YOU FEAR THE IMMORTAL DEATH-DRAGON. AND YOU HAVE NO CONCEPT OF THAT WHICH IS GREATER THAN YOUR VISION, NOR DO YOU RESPECT THE FLOW OF ALL THINGS IN THIS WORLD._”**

She doesn’t like this, doesn’t like the way it starts rifling through her thoughts like she’s a book and it’s a child ripping out pages with the prettiest pictures. She doesn’t even get the chance to say words with her mouth before a small needle of pain hits her in the forehead.

**“_YOU WILL RETURN IN TWELVE PASSINGS OF THE MOON. YOU WILL BRING YOUR WISHES AND STATE YOUR INTENTION BEFORE ALL OF US. MY KIN WILL JUDGE YOU AS I HAVE JUDGED YOU, SONIA OF MAGNOLIA, AND IF WE FIND YOU WANTING, THEN ALL WILL BE FORFEIT TO US._”**

And then it’s gone. Disappeared from before her like it was never there in the first place. And Sonia realizes she’s freezing, with her ears hurting from the cold and her hands almost numb, and the two of them are unsteady as they sit down on the nearest loveseat in the train. She’s shaking, and not just from the Tundra, and Leon’s arm isn’t as warm as it was before. The people around them are chatting with each other, and none of them seem concerned about the giant floating bird that was following mere meters from the train.

Finally, after swallowing a bit, Leon says, “I hadn’t meant for that to be your first meeting. I’m so sorry.”

She forces some lightheartedness into her words. “No, it’s all right. Besides, Articuno says that they’ll listen to me when we come back, and that’s a win.”

The two of them watch as Dyna Tree Hill disappears into the distance and they start moving over the alpine tundra grass. The train slows down for a bit when a few of the Tundra Pokémon land on the tracks ahead, but some of the engineer’s Pokémon dutifully tap the wild ones out of the way so that the ride remains smooth and no Pokémon are killed. It’s not until they reach back into the frozen snow that Sonia pulls herself from her thoughts.

“Let’s worry about Articuno and the Birds another day,” she says firmly. “We’re here for ourselves, and I don’t want anything to take this away.”

Leon gives her a smile, full of rekindled excitement. “Yes, certainly! I’m in complete agreement. Since we have another two hours before we’re in Motostoke, would you care to think about what we should do when we arrive?”

“Remind me where we’re going.”

“The Arts District.”

Sonia had always been a lover of the arts, particularly visual arts. She dabbled in drawing, but didn’t really have the time to hone any talent that might have been hidden. Still, she could very much appreciate the amount of work that went into making a masterpiece.

“Any special going-ons?”

Leon checked his Rotom. “Well, looks like an art crawl being hosted now. A number of south Galarian artists have their work available for viewing through a few casual galleries. Does that sound enticing?”

“Yes! But… what about you?”

“What do you mean?”

“No offense, Leon, but you’re not the artsy type. Is there something else you’d rather do?”

He drops a kiss on her nose. “I’m always ready to try something new. Who knows? Maybe there’s something that’ll catch my fancy.”

Actually, finding him a few pieces of art to go in his apartment might be nice. Give some personality to the stark white walls. “Then, let’s do that!”

“Here’s a list of some of the artists. Care to take a peek?”

The two of them float between checking out some websites online and enjoying the view as it goes by. Soon enough, they’re leaving the Tundra behind and Sonia watches the rolling hillside of Wedgehurst come into view, and then they’re riding the western edge of the Wild Area on slightly elevated tracks, and Sonia moves around to watch the herd of Onix begin digging their nests, or the Pangoro teaching the Panchem how to throw a punch, or the sheer beauty of Goldeen and Seaking beneath the sparkling waters of the western lake. This view is unbelievable, and the train moves easily enough that they spend _just_ enough time watching one group of Pokémon before something new catches her eye.

And the thing of it is that Leon’s right there. Not just physically, but mentally. He texts or reads his e-mail every now and then, but she can tell that the bulk of his attention is on her. It’s so novel that she’s almost unnerved by it… but she likes it. She likes being in his sights, and it’s nice keeping him in hers.

Finally, the giant gears of Motostoke become more visible, and the train dips down into an underground station that connects to the more commonly used commuter station. They leave their bags in the train’s suite, and as they step out the manager reminds them, “Please return by 1:30. Enjoy your visit!”

Leon and Sonia waste no time high tailing it to the Arts District, with Sonia using her Rotom to guide them there. Turns out that it’s near one of the upper-lower turnstiles on the northwest side, and the turnstile makes different faces as it brings people up or down. There is artistic graffiti all over the stone walls, and when they go into the lower level there are flickering fairy lights strung between the lamp posts and through some of the trees, changing colors as people walk through.

“I’ve never been here before,” Sonia says as they walk through together, and one of the galleries catches her eye. “Let’s go here!”

“You’re the leader,” he says with amusement.

Inside is a bustling space with paintings all over the trailing walls, the floor carefully lit with shiny stone dust, making each footstep momentarily glow before fading down. It’s busier than some of the other shops they passed, and Sonia thinks it’s because this artwork looks a little less ornate (read, less expensive) than the works in some of the glass-and-marble stores. But they’re here to have fun and have a new experience, and she automatically grabs his hand as they walk through because gods forbid him from getting lost now.

When he twines his fingers between hers, Sonia stops walking to look down. She looks back up at his expression, and he’s got the faintest hint of a smile on his lips, like she’s just heard him whisper a secret.

“You don’t mind, do you?”

“No. No, never.”

“Good. Let’s look at this one. It’s really nice.”

They don’t end up buying anything from this place, though Sonia takes a card from one of the artists because she likes their style even if none of the pieces are really grabbing her. They slide out the door and into the next gallery, this one just a little fancier. But it’s the right move because this artist seems to specialize in abstract portraits of Pokémon. Some are done with watercolor softness and affection, others are single-line drawings that somehow manage to encompass a Pokémon’s energy, and others are vivid surreality. Sonia’s eyes automatically look for any Yamper or Boltund pictures, but there are none to be found.

But there is a Charizard picture, and Leon stands in front the brazenly bold red and golds as he looks at it with a mixture of awe and longing. It’s flying upwards from a cold mountaintop, burning the snow with a gust of fire from its mouth, and Sonia can almost feel the sparks coming off it, can almost hear the beating wings against the raging storm. It’s not a small picture – about 110 centimeters tall and 80 wide – and set in a beautiful golden frame that barely traps the Pokémon’s essence.

She stands next to him, looking at him from the corner of her eye. “You like this?”

“I’ve never really cared much for art, but I…,” and his voice fades off before he says, “I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something _alive_ here.”

“High praise from the Champion himself.”

Both turn around, and a young woman is standing there with a satisfied smile. Her hair is piled onto her head, colored in shades of green and yellow to contrast the light hazel of her eyes. She tilts her head and says, “I’ll tell you a secret; I did this after seeing one of your battles a few years ago. I got to watch you Gigantamax your Charizard in person. _This_ came from that.”

“You’re the artist? Astounding work,” he says. “I’m impressed on his behalf. He’d be preening if he knew.”

“He should preen. He’s quite magnificent.”

A few seconds of silence, and before Sonia can say anything he asks, “How much?”

“Excuse me?”

“How much is it worth?”

“Oh, uhm, I’m selling it for 500 pokédollars. Frame and all.”

He nods. “Seems fair. I’ll buy it.”

The woman blinks in surprise. “I… all right.”

“I can’t take it now, but can I have it shipped?”

“It’ll cost extra, but it’s a flat fee of fifty pokédollars. If there’s anything else you want to buy, you won’t have to pay the fee for each picture.”

Leon nods and starts wandering through the store, his lack of direction being put to good use as he floats through the different rooms and in front of different pictures with no particular aim. He finally decides on a simple single line-art of an Aegislash and a watercolor of the Lake of Outrage’s island. Sonia tries not to think about how much money he’s spending. Instead, she focuses on his face.

_He looks happy, like a kid who’s found some new collectable he wants to show off. I don’t think I’ve seen that smile in a long time, that excited grin._

“Did you see anything?” and his question shakes her from her reverie. “Sonia?”

“Oh, me? No, I’m fine! Just appreciating all the work!”

They finish the transactions, and the artist is almost glowing with excitement. “Thank you very much. I’ll have the paintings shipped within the week.”

“Thank _you_. It’s an honor to meet such a talented artist.”

She blushes and tucks a stray hair behind her ear. “Truly, the pleasure’s all mine, Champion.”

“Leon. Just Leon now.”

When they finally leave, they barely have enough time to stop and browse in a bookstore at Sonia’s request. Once they’re done, they head back to the train in peaceful silence, him still holding her hand, and Sonia’s happy that she can still see colors and lines in her head as they walk through the lively street. Once inside the train, they collapse together on the bed.

Sonia rolls onto her stomach and smiles at him. “Charizard is famous now! I suppose you’ll have to get him into modeling classes on top of battle training, right?”

Leon lets out a hearty laugh at the mental image, grabbing her around the waist as his laughter echoes into her, shakes her up and makes her laugh in return. And the laughter is so natural that it turns into smiles and he’s somehow rolled on top of her and he smiles against her lips and she smiles back and when the train goes into motion it rocks them together, puts a newer, deeper, richer energy between them that Sonia had been trying to avoid because she wasn’t sure she was ready for it, but she’s ready right now and he feels like he’s ready too, and the soft moans she finds floating up from her throat are lost against the sound of the train’s wheels and engine but he hears them, he knows what they mean.

“Sonia,” he whispers into her, a hand tangling in her hair as one of his knees carefully moves up until it’s a breath away from the seam in her trousers and she can’t help but think _I am the name on his lips_.

She reaches her hands up and cups his face, feeling the scratchiness of his beard and the softness of his cheeks. His eyes fall shut, like a contented Purrloin being indulged, and Sonia says, “We have all day together, don’t we?”

“Yes,” he says, eyes still shut.

“And all night?”

Now his eyes fly open, simmering with heat. “Yes.”

She gives him a final kiss, deep and long-lasting, before pulling back. “Show me more sights together.”

A swift kiss in return before he slowly rolls off her, stands up, and helps her to her feet. “Let’s get a bite. We can watch the hills, too.”

They sit back down for a late lunch – fish and chips, but the fanciest fish and chips she’s ever had in her life – as they enjoy the emerald hills of Turffield. It’s even more thrilling as Leon points out Milo’s farm in the distance; he apparently recognizes the Wooloo and Dubwool of the Baumann family, which is mildly mind-boggling to Sonia. Soon enough, they arrive in Hammerlocke and head into the northern part of the city where a few museums rest. Leon took a pair of passes to the Museum of Pokémon History, which is rather small but filled with a number of fascinating items. Sonia spends an unfortunate amount of time staring at the relics of a Zapdos feather, which seems to be half yellow and half brown – likely from the time when it was making the transition between typings. It brings up more questions than answers, but she’s next drawn to a tuft of red fur, which upon further evaluation, actually looks like a piece of Zamazenta. It takes her a moment to remember _it’s missing the right ear_ before she wonders whether or not the Legendary Hero would want its ear back. She decides against saying anything, and her attention skips through the whole building and she takes just enough time to see everything she wants and chats up the curator before they have to head back. Now she’s got a business card, and traded hers, and is looking forward to more collaboration and research.

“You’re looking pleased as punch,” Leon remarks as they head back to the train.

“Yes! I’d not had the chance to speak with Mr. Finngard when I was doing my book; it hadn’t occurred to me that he might actually have relics from the time of the heroes. But how wonderful! Perhaps he could give me more information about the Birds or the Heroes.”

It’s getting to be around dinner time, and Sonia’s appetite is stimulated from all the walking around and thinking hard. They head back to the train, and once it gets into motion again a voice comes up over the intercom.

“Good evening, passengers. Tonight’s dinner will begin at 6 PM and open until 8:30 PM. Please be sure to dress accordingly. Thank you, and I hope you’ve enjoyed your visit with the Green Palace.”

They glance at each other, and Leon is a gentleman, so he borrows the loo for a moment before giving up the bathroom to her needs. She doesn’t take a shower, though she washes her face of the old make-up, and wets down her hair before changing out of her outfit and pulling out the dress and trying to decide how done-up she wants to be.

_Perhaps I shouldn’t go over-the-top. Let’s go with light foundation and a tinted moisturizer. Maybe more of a sparkle to catch the candlelight. Soft smoky eyes with light mascara, skip the false lashes since I’m spending the night with him (oh sweet Arceus oh wow I’m not sure I’m ready for this) and use a matching lipstick for some special attention. Well, I am going to eat, so maybe I won’t bother with liner since this will get worn off._

_For hair, don’t have time to use the curling iron. Put this tangle up into a bun, leave some strands to frame the face, put a couple of crystals inside for good measure. Hair spray and bobby pins are my friend. Some matching earrings, a drop necklace, a small spritz of perfume behind the ears and on the wrists oh bloody hell it’s past six!_

She shimmies into her dress and manages to zip up the back without any assistance. It’s a deep plum color with thin straps over her shoulders and down her back, and a plunging neckline that her necklace follows down. The bodice is carefully decorated with ivory and sea-green flowers while the skirt is pleated and flows around her knees. With her hair pinned up, it shows off her neck and the dangly earrings, and she’s gained an extra three inches of height from the sand-colored strappy heels she’s wearing. Like this, she’ll only be a hair shorter than him.

_It’ll be fun to look him in the eyes. Maybe throw him off his game for once._

A spritz of perfume, the faintest hint behind her ears and on her wrists, and then she tosses the lipstick and her phone into a wristlet. She opens the bathroom door and gets a good look at her date before he notices her.

Sonia knows it’s rude to stare, but she can’t help herself. He’s dressed in a navy-blue suit with black lining, and a matching black silk shirt underneath. His tie is light silver, a line of moonlight in the midst of a midnight sky. His hair is pulled back into a soft braid that ends between his shoulder blades, and it never occurred to her that he would know how to braid his own hair, but he must have done it because she didn’t help.

Leon looks over from where he’s standing by the door, only barely keeping his impatience under wraps, and when he looks at her he takes a deep breath.

“Beautiful,” he says, and his eyes take in all the details as walks towards him.

“Is this good? Nice enough?”

“You look stunning. I just…,” and he catches himself before he finally says, “I can’t even talk. By Dialga, Sonia, you really are the most beautiful woman I know.”

She blushes, which totally ruins the make-up effect. “Come off it. You know Nessa and a million other women who are prettier.”

“Maybe,” and he takes her hand before kissing one of the knuckles, “but they aren’t you.”

There aren’t words for how he makes her feel, and a part of her is still wondering if he’s laying it on thick because he doesn’t know how to be genuine, doesn’t know how to really turn her down. But Leon may be good at PR, but he’s no liar. He wouldn’t fake this kindness when it would be so easy to keep ignoring her until it was convenient.

_Or maybe he’s not willing to risk the friendship or our relationship as professor and CEO, and acting like this smooths things out for now._

But she doesn’t have any more time to spare because he’s opening the door and Sonia automatically takes the lead and guides them back to the dining car and their table, and she mentally preens because people look at them as they go by (_don’t kid yourself they’re looking at Leon_) and she’s certain that he’s the most attractive person on this whole train.

They have a new waiter – Jonothan – who dotes a little more than Sonia would prefer, but he’s eager as a Yamper to do well by them and Leon is unruffled as always with the extra attention. There’s a four-course seasonal menu with different options for each course, all of which look amazing. She goes with roasted Octillery and cauliflower with citrus caviar, a salad of delicate greens, cheese, and spiced berries, rare Bouffalant strip steak with button potatoes decorated with black truffle mushrooms, and a decadent chocolate torte with peanut butter cream and caramelized coconut ice cream on top. Dinner is a very drawn-out affair, which gives her plenty of time to look out the window.

They watch the arrival of the gold stone road, which sits on the western aspect of Stow-on-Side’s mountain. It’s called that because the stone has lines of pyrite running through it, making the rocks glitter with a not-quite-gold energy. Sonia has never seen this before, since she’s only traveled Route 6 during her Gym Challenge, and very much mourns the fact that neither Bea nor Allister try to make more of this naturally beautiful setting.

Then they’re dipping around the Glimwood Tangle. No one would be foolish enough to build a railroad going through the magical forest, but the train curves close enough – and the tracks are made of steel to discourage any Fairy types from playing on them – that she can see the giant mushrooms light up as Pokémon or overly foolish Trainers bump against them. Now it’s definitely close to nighttime, and the lights in the train start to dim so that the candles on the table can offer the proper ambiance. Coupled with the lights from outside, and Sonia is certain she’s been transported to another world, in another time.

She gets daring partway through dinner when she steals a bite of his spice-crusted king Finneon filet because it looked so good, and he gives her a look.

“Thief.”

“It’s super effective,” she grins as she pops the forkful into her mouth. It melts right away, and she lets out a groan. “Mmmm! So good!”

“Then I’ll just have to take some of yours!”

“Please do,” she says, and proceeds to take a second piece as he spears a cut of her steak. He thoroughly enjoys his purloined bite as she lets out a contended sigh. “Boltund would be so disappointed to know she missed this.”

“Charizard, too. He gets the leftovers if I’m not fast enough the next day. Hard to pull a plate of food from a lizard made of fire.”

That’s a cute thought. She never really thought about Charizard being such an overbearing personality at home, though it makes sense considering how much presence he has when he and Leon are battling. She follows the topic of Pokémon for a little while with him, talking about things she’s set up for the new Trainers, the hopes she has for this season, and other casual thoughts. It’s interesting, though; she talks as if she’s drunk, letting any and all thoughts that spring up just fall from her lips. But Leon hadn’t ordered any wine and Sonia hadn’t asked. She wants to be as clear-headed as possible so she can remember everything that happens.

When it gets to dessert, he dips his fork into the torte – and holds it out for her to eat. She gives him a look of disbelief over the plates, but he’s got this look that’s hiding something, and she’s still feeling a bit daring so she leans over, giving him a good view down her dress, and slowly takes the bite, sliding the chocolate cake off the fork as her lips drag over the tines.

He doesn’t miss the implication, and loses the smile as she slowly chews and swallows.

“Did you like it?”

Sonia carefully pulls a curl of hair from her face. “I’ve always liked chocolate.” Now she meets his eyes. “I could _eat it all night_.”

He licks his lips, and Sonia watches his mouth without shame. He takes his own bite, lightly blushing, but lets out an approving hum at the taste. Not that he’d been disappointed through the rest of dinner.

They do this through the rest of dessert, saying nothing as he gives her another bite before taking his own. Sonia doesn’t pay much attention to the rest of the dining car, but she’s pretty certain she heard someone mutter something about ‘the Champion and his date’. So yeah, this is probably going to get out into the media, but she doesn’t care much and refuses to be intimidated by people that don’t matter.

And when they finish and Leon escorts her back to their suite with a hand just above the curve of her lower spine, Sonia can feel her heart start to race again because they’re about to be behind closed doors very soon. The moment they’re alone, he drapes an arm over her shoulders while the other wraps around her waist. She can’t move, but she lets out a shiver when he whispers in her ear.

“After what you did at the table with those lips of yours… I hope you’re ready for a little proper payback.”

She swallows before saying, “Okay.”

His fingers trail up from her shoulder to her chin, then carefully trace the curve of her lips and she shivers again. “You like that?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“I have a request.”

“Hmm?”

“Fix your lipstick. Nice and pretty.” A pause, and the tip of a finger slides inside her mouth. “Understand?”

She pulls in a sharp breath because she _very much understands_ what he’s asking, and he’s building a wildfire of heat and passion inside her chest and stomach. Her answer is to lightly suck on his finger before flicking her tongue against the very tip. It’s his turn to shiver as he draws himself out.

“Looking forward to tonight,” he says, dropping a final kiss on her neck before heading into the bathroom, leaving her standing the middle of the room all out of sorts and almost dizzy with hunger.

_Sweet singing Meloetta! Dear gods above, I can’t keep up with him. He’s going to be the death of me._

The train makes a little jolt, and she stumbles for a second before catching herself on the bed and sitting down. The intercom goes off.

“Good evening. We are chuffed to say that we will be arriving into the Wyndon station in approximately 15 minutes. Please gather all of your baggage, and lock the suite when you leave. Thank you, and have a smashing evening.”

That goads Sonia into motion. When Leon comes out, still looking fancy, she’s already got their bags on the bed and packing away her previous outfit. She borrows the bathroom, freshening up, before repackaging her makeup and tossing it in. They do a quick scan of the room – there’s not much space, so there’s nothing to miss – before closing up their luggage.

“Good evening. We will be arriving in Wyndon station in five minutes. If all of our guests could please make their way into the front of the train, it will allow everyone to smoothly disembark. We hope you have enjoyed your stay with the Green Palace. For those of you who are not joining us on the round trip back to Wedgehurst, we were delighted to have you. For those who will be returning, please return back to the train by 7:45 AM tomorrow so that we may depart on time. Thank you again, and it was an honor and a pleasure to travel with you this fine weekend.”

Although the Green Palace pulls at the same Wyndon Station that the commuter train uses, there are moving sidewalks in the subway that lead them right into the Rose. This will be easy for Sonia to find in the morning (she’s not foolish enough to leave it up to her date to remember). And when they finally exit from the turnstiles and she’s staring at the hotel with its vivid lights, it suddenly hits her that _this is real._

_This is it. This is the start of something more. Not just dates or bumming around or being friends or colleagues._

_ You could always turn it down, say you’re not ready._

_I know. And he’d be fine because he would never be upset._

_But _I’d_ be upset because maybe it’s time to start taking risks. Maybe it’s time to stop holding myself to some ridiculous ideal about how our relationship should be or should have been, and just take this moment as something I’ve earned. And if we don’t work out, then at least this will be a part of a grander memory rather than a regret._

“Sonia?”

He’s looking at her with mild curiosity, holding out his hand for her.

She takes it, and they walk into the hotel together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (3/1/21): Sometimes the journey is more important than the destination....
> 
> So I apologize for taking F O R E V E R to post this chapter. Honestly, this was a really intimidating chapter to write because there was so much going and so many places for the duo to visit that I didn't want it to seem like I was cutting corners or not giving certain experiences enough attention. Also, you can see evidence of the action/adventure plot I've got running through this story; making sure that all the threads are tying together has also been a reason for the delay in posting. To be clear, I haven't abandoned this story and I'm hoping to post a new chapter once every two weeks or so.
> 
> I will also warn my readers that the next chapter is definitely going to be Explicit. I will increase the story's rating when the next chapter comes out.


	15. Revelers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. Initially written to be a one-shot introspective piece on Sonia's complicated relationship with Leon that has since spiraled out of my control.
> 
> Chapter 15 (EXPLICIT): "I don’t regret being here and doing so much with you because I really want to… but I’m afraid of some inevitable farewell that’s not just ‘see you later’. So I keep saying thank you because it’s like a little prayer that might keep you from saying ‘goodbye’.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Musical Accompaniment: Don’t Play, by Ozzie feat. THEMXXNLIGHT. Can be played through the beginning and in the second part.
> 
> Thanks to DezyPhresh for beta-reading this. We joked that if I put this as the sixteenth chapter, we could affectionately call it the 'sex-teenth' chapter. Because we're mature adults.
> 
> If that wasn't enough of a hint as to what is to come, I will openly say this is an EXPLICIT chapter. While I don't write "IKEA Erotica" (insert Tab A into Slot B, etc.), I am very clear about what is happening between these two. No 'fade to black', no subtleties; as an adult, I write for adults.

They barely make it into the hotel room before they’re on top of each other. The door is slammed shut and double-locked, bags fall over, and Leon has her pressed against the wall with his lips on hers so fiercely that she can barely breathe.

“You drove me mad all through dinner!” he snarls when he parts from her, drawing his lips down her neck and kissing her wherever he can find skin. “I didn’t know you could be such a tease! Your sexy little mouth, with your sexy little tongue – gods!”

He’s always so controlled, always so picture-perfect, and the words coming out of his mouth are dark and dirty and Sonia loves it, loves that she’s the one who’s made him so uncontrolled, and her question comes out stilted but clear. “Do you still… want me… to put some lipstick… right here?” and she grabs a handful of him.

The answer is immediate. He lets her go to start fumbling at his suit’s buttons, and Sonia falls to her knees with a minimal amount of grace. She undoes his belt buckle, the button, the zipper, and his silk pants fall around his ankles as his jacket hits the floor, and she’s pulling down his briefs with them, and it’s been a little while since she’s done this, but she licks her lips, takes him with two delicate fingertips, and lets her mouth encompass him.

He groans, the sound rumbling deep in his chest and going down into her throat as she strokes him with her lips and tongue. His scent buries itself into her, makes him taste sweet and salty and she can’t help but want more. She has wanted him forever, and now he’s here and at her mercies and she puts her hands on his perfect thighs as she slides back and forth, leaving rings of deep violet around his length and thinking _I marked him he’s mine only mine_.

When she would fantasize about this kind of moment – and she did it a lot – it was always with roses and moonlight and silk sheets as he whispered sweet nothings into her ear. But this is real, and it’s not a façade of Leon that she’s touching, it’s the man himself who talks like he’s unafraid to be himself, unafraid to express how he feels no matter how inappropriate those words are or what other people might think. And the knowledge that she is his freedom makes her free, releases her from those ridiculous pre-conceived notions about how two old-friends-but-new-lovers should act the first time they’re together, and dear Dialga she could do this all night! She could kneel at his feet, worship his body, let his hand bury itself in her not-so-neat hair to keep her close for as long as he wants because it’s what _she_ wants. _She_ wants him as he is, not as she thinks they should be.

_This moment is ours,_ and she builds a painting, a movie in her mind from this moment.

She listens to everything that’s happening; not just the meaningless words he’s saying, but the way she makes his breath come out in straining pants, the wet sounds that echo up as she sucks and licks just to add spice to the sensation, the soft throaty moans from her own throat because she’s getting off on this too. She sees how his eyes are shut and he’s biting his lower lip, and she takes a moment to take him out of her mouth and _look_ at him, look at the line of violet hair running down his chest, look at how he stands so straight and proud before she takes him again. She tastes him on the back of her tongue, has a new flavor of chocolate that she can call her favorite, and there’s a faint bitterness that tells her he’s getting close to reaching his end. And when she takes him deep for just a second – she really is out of practice – she can smell her own scent on him, thinks she can smell the memory of today’s trip on his skin.

She reaches over with one hand to stroke his inguinal ligament, a perfect line drawn down to his pelvis, and he shivers from the touch as she travels down and around until she can draw little circles on his scrotum, feels them tighten and rise over and over as she teases him with tongue and touch and soon he’s adding to the rhythm by pulsing forward and back.

Then he’s losing control and saying, “Sonia! Sonia!” and she wants to feel him unravel in her mouth as he lets out a fierce sound, like he’s been pushing a boulder uphill and finally got it to tumble down the other side, and Sonia tastes him, feels him finish in her mouth, and she waits a double handful of seconds until he’s done before she swallows (and momentarily scrunches up her nose because this isn’t really a pleasant taste no matter who made it). She uses a bit stronger suction than usual as she slides his now-softened body out of her mouth, pulling the last of his flavor from the tip, before she pops him out.

He’s leaning against the wall, arm propping him up as he looks down at her still kneeling in her dress and high heels. “That was bloody amazing,” he whispers. “You’re amazing.”

The smile she gives him is cheeky and smug. “I’ll bet you say that to every girl who gives you a jobbie.”

He’s still a little breathless, but he manages to give her a look. “How many do you think I’ve gotten?”

“I’d rather not think about that.”

“One. Just one.”

The answer sinks in. “Oh.”

“Yes. Oh.”

They’re like that for another minute as he regains his breath, then he shrugs out of the shirt and toes off his shoes before losing the pants. It’s a little distracting that he’s in the buff and she’s still fully dressed, but there doesn’t seem to be smooth way to ask if she should do the same as she stands up.

_But the view is bloody phenomenal._

It really is. He’s built like a model’s dream, like he could crush Rolycoly with his hands, like he could carry a thousand pounds on his shoulders. She is not at all subtle as she watches him bend over and pick up his clothes before carefully draping them over the chair at a nearby desk. His back is lined with hard-worked muscles that arrow down to the firm curves of his buttocks, and she doesn’t realize that she’s chewing her finger as she watches him move. _Wow. Wow._

He walks towards her and while she’s seen him shirtless a time or two, it’s different now. She felt a little embarrassed indulging in the sight before because, although she enjoyed it, those moments were often from pictures or videos created to make money off his good looks. It was Leon at a distance, as a carefully crafted fantasy for people to partake.

Well he’s not at a distance now, he’s awfully close as he steps in front of her, and she can see her lipstick still on his lips and a little bit down below. She’s so busy looking for more marks that she is unprepared for when he literally picks her up and tosses her over his shoulder. “Aaah!” she screeches, caught off-guard and a little woozy. “What is this?”

“Putting things in their proper place,” he says before bringing her down onto the king-sized bed. She bounces a bit before propping herself up on her elbows, then Leon is straddling her hips and his arms are on either side of her. “Hmm, yes, that should do nicely.”

“I didn’t know the Champion of Galar could be so impatient. I can walk, you know,” she banters at him.

“I’m aware of your many talents, my dear Sonia. No, it’s not that I’m impatient,” and his voice changes, goes from being that sweet-boy-down-the-street to the competitive owner of the Battle Tower. “I’m feeling more _driven_ than usual.”

She doesn’t have time to muse on that thought before he’s kissing her again, knocking her flat against the bed beneath his weight, pressing on her just enough to keep her from moving too much or escaping his arms.

“Besides,” he says throatily as he comes up for air, “I don’t want you to think I forgot about you.”

He slides down her body, lifts up the skirt of her dress, and disappears underneath like it’s a party trick. Sonia has a brief second to wonder _what’s he doing?_ before she feels him grab her panties – the same thong she ended up wearing to the club with Nessa and Raihan – pull them to her knees without any fanfare, and proceed to eat her out. She lets out a small sound of delight, back slightly arching off the bed while her knees are pushed in the air, and his tongue is flicking out over her, teasing her like she teased him, sending little sparks into her spine like delicate magic, and when the sensation starts becoming almost too much to bear and her voice starts to hit a new note, he slows down, moves around, starts stroking her lips with his own. He pulls back for just a moment to completely remove her thong and toss it across the room, then his arms go around her thighs and she can’t close them because he is far stronger than she could ever be.

“Relax, and have a Champion time,” he says, and his grin is full of hunger before he ducks back underneath and restarts his attentions. With her legs pulled apart, she knows he can see everything, is unrestricted in his access to her, and _gods_ does it flip a switch in her. She lets herself relax in his arms, lets him eagerly go back to tasting and taking her as she makes noises that are loud and high and indecent. She grips the bedding and occasionally bites the edge of a pillowcase when she feels like she’s embarrassing herself because he’s obviously having a good time giving _her_ a good time and it’s driving her to the brink and right back and it usually takes her a while to reach a peak when someone plays with her, but Leon is in no particular hurry despite the intensity of his motions

and maybe it’s because it’s Leon and she’s been gagging for him for years that everything starts to build up a little more quickly, and she can feel the way his fingers dig into her legs and she wonders if there will be bruises in the morning, and she feels the wetness that drips down her core until he licks it up and her dress is probably going to need a professional cleaner after he’s done with her and he’s not done with her and he latches those perfect lips right on her clit and his tongue is persistent, he is always persistent when chasing a goal, and with just a little more teasing she comes for him, her legs twitching and her hips riding his rhythm until finally she lets out a soft sigh and goes boneless with bliss.

He pulls away just a bit, still hidden beneath her dress, and Sonia wonders what he looks like, looking at her.

“You’re so wet,” he says, almost awestruck as he traces his fingertips along her still-sensitive skin.

“Mmmm… that was your hard work.”

“No, this is _you,_” and he slowly pushes a single finger inside, and Sonia lets out a whine and tightens around him. “Well, someone is eager.”

“Yes!” and he is too because he plays it in and out of her with just a little more energy than needed, going fast but not too fast, it’s just enough to make her needy because now that she’s seen the top of the mountain, she wants to go back up and she’s the impatient one, trying to grab his hair or his hand or _something_ because she wants more.

“More?” he asks, and Sonia realizes she spoke aloud.

“_Please_,” she says, almost giving the word an extra syllable from how strongly she says it, and he graciously acquiesces by pushing two fingers into her and he has thick, hard-working fingers that are so strong, so good at taming monsters and fighting battles and she strains to keep up with him as he returns to the same rhythm as before. She thought she’d be used to it by now because she’s always following him but not like this it’s never been like this before

and she realizes that she’s not following him, he’s _pushing_ her, he’s making her move and making her set the pace and she runs ahead of him, holding his hand as she takes the lead and it’s exhilarating to be the one who’s winning this not-a-race but he’s now sitting up and watching her with that same hungry look in his eyes, almost begging her to cross the line as he suddenly ramps up the speed and Sonia’s eyes roll back and squeeze shut as everything inside of her tenses up and she _sprints_ across the finish line, her voice ringing in the air and her body bursting with pyrotechnic stars that turn her world all sorts of colors and Leon is saying something she can’t understand because he’s not stopping and the only thing she can do is race over the line again, and then he goes for gold and helps her leap over it one last time, looking very self-satisfied as she clenches so hard she literally pushes his fingers out with her final, nerve-breaking climax.

Then the next thing she remembers is him lying next to her, running his fingers over her shoulders with sweet attention.

“You all right?” he asks.

“I think so. Bit knackered, though.”

“Brought you some water,” and he turns and hands her a glass, and she gratefully takes a few sips as he holds it because she barely has the energy to sit up. “Too much?”

“I’ll drink more later.”

“No, I mean,” and he makes a twitching gesture with his hand, now clean, “was this too much?”

She blushes for some stupid reason. “No, not that either. Haven’t done it in a while, but it was worth the wait.”

He chuckles. “I doubt that. But if I could make a request-”

“Hm?”

“It’s a bit embarrassing that I’m the only one in the buff.”

She smiles mischievously at him. “I’ve got a tasty nosh waiting for me in bed.”

“Didn’t I give you enough to eat?”

Now she giggles, and it’s almost surreal that she’s lying in a hotel room with him, her thighs wet and sticky from him getting her off, him starkers right next to her, and both of them teasing and flirting like they’d been doing this for years instead of a few weeks – maybe even less. But she eventually agrees, and after another drink of water, she sits up and gets him to undo her zipper as she shimmies out of the dress, then removes her strapless bra and shoes _wow, I’ve been wearing my heels this whole time! _She takes a quick gander at her gown, and is unsurprised to see the stain on the inside lining. _Oh well. To the cleaners when I get home._

She pulls out her outfit for the tomorrow – the same cream trousers as today, but with a sapphire blue button-down shirt – and packs away the dress and discarded knickers before grabbing her toiletries bag. “You don’t mind if I wash up?”

“Not a bit. Unless you want a second pair of hands.”

She actually stops to think about it for a long second, caught between desires and routine, but she is so delayed in her answer that when she focuses he’s already standing next to her, undoing the crystals in her hair.

“You got away from me,” he says mildly, carefully dropping the last one into her bag before her hair tumbles down her back.

“Sorry. I just was, you know, thinking about it.” She shivers as his hand runs itself down her spine. “Let me wash up, then come for a soak?”

“All right,” and he gently tilts her head up to give her a kiss before sending her towards the bathroom.

Sonia hadn’t spent any time looking at her surroundings other than noticing things like ‘bed’, ‘chair’, and ‘Leon’, but now that she’s paying attention she can see that this must be one of the fancier suites in the Rondelands. There’s actually a sitting room with a telly and a couch, plus a second desk with two chairs on either side, and a kitchenette with a fridge and microwave. A shame they’re not staying long enough to use all this.

Inside the bathroom is a large sink that she quickly takes over before using the loo. There’s a glass-doored shower that’s perfect for washing off the mess, though she ignores her hair for the moment, and right next to it is a bathing tub. She hops from the shower to the tub and lets out a deep-chested sigh of relief as the hot water floods in and relaxes her overworked muscles.

“Come on in,” she yells towards the closed door, and a few moments later Leon comes in and toes the water. He hisses in surprise before slowly stepping in and getting used to the heat.

“Bloody hell, woman, I thought you were Electric type!”

“I am.”

“This is Fire! Sonia used Scald!”

“_You’re_ the one with the Charizard.”

“Doesn’t mean it’s not hot! I think you’ve cooked my meat and vegs’ straight off!”

She actually laughs at him, but then says, “After all the walking around we did, and the exercise just now, I wanted to have a really relaxing soak. You can step out if you like.”

He gently eases her forward as he sits down, and she gets between his legs and lays against his chest as the water rises. When it reaches just under her bra line, she turns it off and is almost deafened by the silence. Then she closes her eyes and enjoys the sound of droplets falling from the faucet, Leon’s heartbeat against her back, the lapping water as she swirls her foot around.

“It’s been a wonderful day. Thank you for this.”

He kisses the top of her head. “I wanted everything to be perfect.”

“It was. All of it.”

“Good. Then it’s all worth it. And we still have tomorrow, too.”

“I know. Hop’s party-”

“The rest of the trip.”

“That too. It’s really… thank you.”

“You don’t have to keep thanking me. I know you like it.”

“It’s not just that.” She momentarily wrangles with herself before giving up and saying, “Can I say something?”

“Of course.”

“I don’t… I don’t usually have sex on the first date.”

“… okay?”

“But part of me is afraid that if I don’t do everything with you, it’ll just become another moment I’ve missed. That when you decide that maybe I’m not what you want, or that this just isn’t working, and then I won’t have anything but these bits of time, and I can’t afford to skip a single one.”

She pauses a moment before continuing. “I knew I needed to find myself before I was ready to be with you, and I think I’ve been doing a bang-up job of being a better Professor. But there’s still a bit of me that wants to hang onto you like a little girl, turning back into someone who defines herself so much on who she is by how close she is to you. And I don’t regret being here and doing so much with you because I really want to… but I’m afraid of some inevitable farewell that’s not just ‘see you later’. So I keep saying thank you because it’s like a little prayer that might keep you from saying ‘goodbye’.”

The noises in the bathroom are dulled by the water, and Sonia keeps her eyes closed as she lays against him. His fingers are aimless as they wander up and down her arms until finally he gently takes her in a hug.

“I wasn’t sure what I wanted when you came to my flat the first time,” he finally says. “I didn’t know if I wanted my friend or the region’s professor or what. But when I saw you there, I just… I was hit with this wave of relief, as if all my fears suddenly vanished because you were right there, and I thought, ‘you can’t let her run away. You can’t let her disappear again’. Because if I let you leave, then it would mean that I lost you for good.”

He’s leaning forward a bit more now, his chin just over her ear. “And a part of me is a little nervous about this because I never really let myself really have a relationship that could mean something in the long run, but I thought about what you said. About ‘Miss Right’ verses ‘Miss Right Now’. And whatever you might be afraid of, you need to understand that you’re not ‘Miss Right Now’. If you were just convenient, well then, I’d’ve had it off with you this every time I came to Wedgehurst – and left you alone over and over. I’ve spent time thinking about you, and us, and the more I think about it the more that I think I’d like to see if you are ‘Miss Right’… and I’m ‘Mister Right’.”

“Even though you didn’t think about this,” and she gestures at their conjoined bodies, the bathtub, into the air, “until I told you how I felt?”

“Well… you didn’t think about Raihan like _that_ until he told you.”

She blinks in surprise. He’s got a point. If Raihan hadn’t said anything then she’d never have known. She didn’t take him up on the offer, but if she had it wouldn’t have been because he was the nearest warm and willing body. It would have been because it was Raihan.

“Huh,” she says. “Huh.”

“Admittedly, it makes me a little, ah, _unhappy_ to think that that one barmy mistake on my part could have meant never having this,” and his arms tighten just a touch before he gently kisses her shoulder. “Let’s just do our best. Together.”

He doesn’t tell her not to worry. He doesn’t tell her things will work out no matter what. That they’re destined or fated or any false certainties. And Sonia doesn’t think she’s fully gotten over her hang-ups and the looming sense of abandonment, but it helps that she can speak her mind so freely to him and vice versa.

“Yes. Together.”

They float together in the bath for a while longer, just long enough that Sonia’s started to drift off to sleep before Leon gently shakes her. They manage to dry off, attend to nighttime rituals, and crawl into bed without too much fuss. She makes sure her alarm is set and her Rotom is plugged in before she falls asleep on his shoulder, her nose brushing the length of his neck, one leg tossed over his, and her hand resting right over his heart.

* * *

Sonia wakes up to the sensation of something soft against her skin, making her feel warm and floaty, and she doesn’t really know what’s happening, but it feels amazing as she’s rolled onto her back, the cotton sheets soft and cool in comparison to the heat that’s on top of her. When she opens her eyes the room is still dark and her eyes haven’t adjusted yet, and she’s got only a moment’s worth of confusion before a pair of lips wrap themselves around one nipple and then lightning runs through her, waking her up so quickly she gets momentarily dizzy. The sensation increases when one hand toys with her other breast, electric pulses making her hair stand on edge, and desire begins to carry her up but not high enough to climax.

Until his other hand reaches down, and a pair of questing fingers start stroking along the edges of her inner thighs, encouraging her legs to open up and her hips to rock up to meet them. A curious hum from Leon, still doing incredibly delightful things to her chest and keeping his mouth busy, and Sonia says, “Yes!” to whatever he is asking.

He wastes no time in sliding those same two fingers inside of her, and Sonia still can’t see anything worth a damn except for the shadowy outline of his body on top of her, but she grips his hair in both hands, holding him against her as he pumps in and out. Maybe it’s because she’s still toeing the edge of sleep, or because he’s got a slightly better angle this time, but she comes on his hand with a muffled yell, throbbing and panting from the morning workout.

He keeps his fingers inside, gently stroking her, as he leans up and asks, “Sonia. Do you want me?”

“Oh blessed Arceus, _yes_!” she says. “Hurry up.”

A soft chuckle of amusement as he pulls his fingers out, but he has to hop off the bed and pull out a condom from his carry-on. She’s impressed he remembered which pocket they were in, considering the still-thick darkness, and he gets it on before coming back to her and tossing the blankets to the foot of the bed.

Now he kisses her, a mix of sweetness and spice as he sets himself between her legs. “You’re so amazing. Lovely, wonderful Sonia. My Sonia.”

She kisses him back with a smile on her lips, wriggling herself against his tip until it just barely slides in. “_Your_ Sonia?”

“Yes,” he says, his voice dropping back into that dark coffee-tinged voice. “_Mine_.”

And he drives forward, and Sonia lets out a shriek because she’s caught in him, around him, and she’s sure she’s still asleep because he’s the dream made real, he’s what she wanted for so long, he is every fantasy she’s ever had and now she’s woken up in his arms, in a bed they’ve shared, and she lets herself be free. She doesn’t think about anything except the way he feels, the way he touches her so far back it is borderline painful, but he seems to sense when she tenses up in the wrong way and instead he starts thrusting with short, staccato motions that start carrying her back up, and suddenly he hits her with a quick, deep lunge that throws her right over the edge even though she didn’t think she was that close, and he doesn’t move as she hugs him tight with her arms, her legs, her inner self

until she relaxes just the faintest hint and he does it again, moving with those sweet, short stokes to brush against her most sensitive spot until some mental timer goes off in his head, and he can once again take her all the way, and Sonia feels like she’s choking on him because she can almost feel his tip in her chest when he’s like _this_. He has to grab her arms because she’s about to claw the skin right off his back, but instead of pinning her down he pulls her into him, her pelvis rising up from the bed until she’s jumped off another peak and her legs go weak from all the work she’s been made to do, but this time he doesn’t go back to the shallow rhythm, he just takes her hips and keeps riding her deep, as deep as he can go, and she can barely hear him over her own cries of ecstasy until he finally lets out a groan that shakes her to the core, and they rise and fall at the same time.

He doesn’t quite collapse, which she appreciates because he is massive in comparison and could crush her like a Blipbug, and instead carefully lays on top, supporting his weight on his forearms as she hugs him around the neck.

“Worth the wait,” she whispers.

He drops a kiss on her forehead, her nose, her lips, before letting out a sigh and pulling out. “Very much worth it. Thank you, my lovely lady.”

“What time is it?”

“3:30.”

“What?!”

“I got randy overnight. And you were there, and now I’ll sleep like a Munna until the morn.”

She would hit him except she still feels really good and relaxed, so she lets him appease her by tucking her back into bed before he washes up, and he gives her a kiss so tender and sweet that it sends her back to sleep with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (03/23/21): ✨✨✨ It -only- took me almost 75K words to get them into each other's arms.
> 
> I apologize for the rather haphazard posting schedule. I'll be starting a new job in the next few months along with continuing some professional writing work, but I fully intend to finish this story. There's so much going on in Real Life, but I have so much of this written too that the thought of leaving this undone almost physically hurts.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who's reading along! I'm always thrilled to hear from you guys!


	16. Gift Giving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. Initially written to be a one-shot introspective piece on Sonia's complicated relationship with Leon that has since spiraled out of my control.
> 
> Chapter 16: “I have something for you.”
> 
> “Oh?”
> 
> “Yes,” and he pulls a pokéball from his pocket. “I wasn’t sure when would be a good time, and I didn’t want to seem like an insensitive wanker, but… well, I’ll let it speak for itself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to DezyPhresh for beta-reading.

They snooze their alarms twice before they’re able to actually get out of bed.

“Time to get up. We’ve got to be back to the train in 45 minutes,” she yawns as she gives him a gentle shove on the shoulder.

“We’ll be fine,” he mumbles back.

“You’re just saying that because you’re so wiped from last night.”

“Yes.”

“Too bad. We’re in a hurry.”

They get each other out of bed, motivated at the thought of the hot shower. He cops a feel or two while they’re getting clean, and she repays the favor in kind because there are so many tasty parts of him, and they’re both turned on as they make their way out of the hotel. Now they’re looking prim and proper – her in cream and sapphire, him in gray and jade – and she feels an odd sort of pride at the way they stand out. He holds her hand as they ride the moving sidewalk back to the train, and after showing off their train passes again, he almost tosses her onto their suite bed.

“We can’t do it right now,” he says with a growl, because the walls aren’t soundproof enough to give them privacy, “but I’m getting a promise out of you to ride me later tonight.”

She grins at him, giving him her best bedroom eyes as she plays coy. “Maybe I should give you a reason to look forward to another date.”

His eyes gleam in the train’s light. “Delayed gratification? All right, Professor, I’m game.”

“Good. Now, then, Champion, how about a little breakfast, since I haven’t eaten anything but you for the last twelve hours?”

After the train gets moving and it’s safe to leave the sleeping car, they eat a delightful breakfast. She savors every bite as she watches Wyndon fall into the distance and they traverse the eastern edge of the White Hills, the snow and ice dancing in the sky as they ride past the hills and mountain. Her mood turns momentarily dark as she recognizes the peak that’s associated with the Circhester Prison, but when Leon carefully offers her a bite of his omelet, she gleefully takes it – and the distraction.

The ride this time is a little different than the one going north. They don’t make a stop in Circhester or Spikemuth; rather, they keep riding the coastlines and enjoying the more scenic aspects of both cities. Spikemuth had recently undergone massive renovations – thanks in part to Piers’ recent tour, Marnie’s enthusiasm for opening up the city to more tourists, and the Pokémon League’s generous donations – and Sonia could see some of the new housing units along with an extension of the downtown area right up to the harbor. The train passes close enough that, if she squints, she is sure she can see where the Spikemuth Gym is located, and a splotch of pink and black that always means a cadre of Team Yell trainers. She pulls Leon in for a chat about Piers, who has been so busy that he’s not even made time to respond to her e-mails about sponsorship.

Then the train starts slowing down, and it makes a sharp turn away from the mainland. Sonia initially startles, but Leon points to the front of the train. Ahead of them in a bridge, which she thinks is odd because she didn’t know there was a way to access the island without a Corviknight cab, but she’s learning new things every day.

“We’re heading towards the Isle of Armor. We’ll see it from the angle that most people can’t,” and now he grins brightly. “It’s always been one of my favorite places in Galar.”

Well, with that kind of energy, Sonia’s just as excited as he is. They sit in one of the couches again, and he points out all the different places. They go around Challenge Beach and the first Tower, then travel under the Warm-up Tunnel before popping out near Brawler’s Cave and swooping around the sea. He tells her about Challenge Road, left in their wake, with the second Tower looming high up above them. Sonia hadn’t been to the Isle – she’d never had the time during the Gym Challenge, and didn’t feel motivated after losing – so this experience is very new. They actually pass by the Dojo that he speaks so highly of, and listens to him chat with great fondness and respect for Master Mustard. She realizes that Mustard is one of the people who helped train him after winning the Championship, and thinks that Leon just showed her something deeply personal. There are also quite a few unfamiliar Pokémon, which would be wonderful to get a few into the Challenge system. Perhaps either man would be able to help?

The train curls around the Isle until they reach the Fields of Honor, where they join on a parallel track of the commuter trains back to the mainland. _Huh. I guess there _is_ a train, too. _The commuter train zips by while they move at a slightly more sedate pace until the train takes them right into Hulbury. Perfect timing for lunch!

The Merchants Port is bustling like always. Nessa had taken Sonia around on more than one occasion; being the Gym Leader of Hulbury meant that she was very invested in the overall financial health of her city, so she liked to show off all the healthy and thriving businesses for Sonia to post to her CamGram. She actually takes a few selfies of her and Leon eating at one of the wharfside restaurants, since their Shellder chowder and chips are to _die_ for.

After they finish, Leon asks, “Should we go see Nessa? The Gym is actually quite close.”

She thinks for a second before saying, “No. Not right now. I’d like this to be our time.”

He threads his fingers between hers, and they enjoy the sounds of the ocean and the port rather than talking for the sake of making words. They go up towards the lighthouse and take a seat on one of the available benches near the back.

“How much time left before we have to get to the train?”

She checks her Rotom. “Another half-hour.”

“Good,” he says, and takes a deep breath. “I have something for you.”

“Oh?”

“Yes,” and he pulls a pokéball from his pocket. “I wasn’t sure when would be a good time, and I didn’t want to seem like an insensitive wanker, but… well, I’ll let it speak for itself.”

He hands her the pokéball, bringing it to its normal size. She gently tosses it onto the ground, and lets out a sound that’s a mix of shock, delight, and overwhelming affection. “Oh my!”

It’s a Pikachu – a girl, as evidenced by the tail. She blinks and squeaks at them in puzzlement, but happily jumps onto Leon’s lap when he makes a welcoming gesture.

“Is she… is she for me?” Sonia asks, her voice soft and careful as she carefully strokes the Pikachu’s head, avoiding the cheek pouches. “She’s so darling!”

“Yeah, she’s yours.” He looks down at Pikachu, pointing at Sonia. “See her? She’s your new Trainer. She’s a big fan of Electric types, mate, and she’ll do right by you.”

Pikachu doesn’t need much encouragement, so she hops from one lap to the other before nuzzling Sonia’s hand. A bit of a shock goes through her fingers, which isn’t new given her Type preference, and she pulls her Electric trainer’s gloves from her purse. It’s lined with rubber to prevent shocks, and Pikachu seems thrilled by the lack of extra static electricity coming from Sonia.

“She’s a love! Leon, where did you – I love her! I can’t believe it! This is so thoughtful!” she says, unable to get a meaningful string of words out as she rubs Pikachu’s ears. “But why? Where? I mean, I just… why?”

He pets Pikachu’s back before saying, “Your team is missing a sixth spot.”

A string of ice goes down her back. _Gardevoir_.

“And you can’t replace a Pokémon, can’t replace anyone that important, but I thought that maybe… maybe you’d like someone new for the team. And this girl’s a Gigantamax Pikachu, so you don’t have to worry about evolving her, and I just really hope you’re not angry at me. I haven’t been looking that long, and it was really a split-second decision to catch her when I was in the Wild Area a few days ago, but she just, she was just so trapped in the Den and I thought, ‘I know the perfect person to take care of you’ and here we are,” he says, and it’s a surprise that even Leon can babble when he’s nervous.

But Sonia leans over and silences him with a kiss, pushes as much affection and care into the action. “Thank you, Leon. She’s perfect, and I think she’ll fit right in. Right, love?”

Pikachu hasn’t been paying attention to them, so her tail wiggles a little before settling down, and Sonia smiles in a way that she hasn’t since all this began, since her Gardevoir died and her heart got broken. She just keeps petting Pikachu and hoping that the day never ends.

But the bell in the central part of Hulbury rings, and both of them hustle back to the train with Pikachu in Sonia’s arms. The little Pokémon looks sleepy, so she summons her back into the ball and puts it right in her purse next to Boltund.

“I’ll have to introduce them slowly,” she says. “I got the feeling – and it’s just me – that Pikachu is a tick stronger than you’re letting on.”

He shrugs. “Probably. I took the Den on myself; there were a gaggle of younger trainers standing around saying that it was too much to handle, and they were right. She was feisty. Like you.”

Sonia knocks into him with her shoulder, and he bumps right back until the two of them are giggling and lying down on the bed. Through the window she can see them making their way down the Wild Area and sleepiness overtakes her. She yawns, and Leon follows suit.

“Shall we catch a nap?” he asks. She would love to stay awake and enjoy the Wild Area, but it’s becoming hard to focus.

“Please.”

They only get about an hour’s rest before an announcement overhead informs them that Wedgehurst is about a half-hour away. They get up, use the loo one last time, and head into the observation car with their luggage for the final leg.

And for the first time in the entire trip, someone comes up to them.

“Excuse me.”

The two look up to see a couple – slightly older than themselves – standing there looking reserved but hopeful. “Yes?” Leon asks.

“You’re Champion Leon, right?”

“Yes. Ex-Champion, though.”

“We know you’re on private time, and we’re really very sorry, but would you mind gracing us with a photo or a signature?”

Leon looks at her, and a good second passes before she realizes that he’s asking for permission. _That’s new._ “May as well. Not much left to do.”

These people are fancy; they whip out the most expensive Rotom you can buy to can get a handful of portraits and a quick video of each getting a handshake from him. And with that the floodgates are open, and all the other passengers are lining up for a chance to get a pic and a shake or a fist-bump and Sonia just sits there and watches as she quietly blends into the background.

For once, it doesn’t bother her. Maybe it’s because everyone’s been so respectful of his time this whole trip, and they purposefully waited until the end before asking for autographs and the like that she’s unperturbed. Or the night of emotional and physical release making her relaxed. Or the thought that _this might be your life from now on if you stay with him_ helps her find some inner acceptance. Whatever the reason, the crowd only disperses after a final announcement tells them that Wedgehurst is in view and they are to make one last check for any personal belongings in the train.

“That was sweet of you,” she tells him once he sits back down.

“Part and parcel of the job,” he says nonchalantly.

“Still sweet. You’re not obliged anymore, you know.”

“No, but I still have their support, which helps support both MC and the Pokémon League. Rose really did a number on the people’s trust, and I want to keep it strong.”

That’s something she didn’t consider before. There was a noticeable drop in the number of applicants to the Gym Challenge the first year after the Darkest Day, but that had increased back to normal last year. _And having something go wrong this year might just destroy the Pokémon League. Just ducky._

The train comes to a stop, and for a moment Sonia feels this pang of regret that their date is technically over. But he offers his hand as they head out of the subway and into the station proper, and finally they’re back in Wedgehurst, back in the reality that the world doesn’t revolve around the two of them and there are other things to do.

Like attend Hop’s graduation party, which starts in a half-hour. Perfect timing! Sonia doesn’t have a pair of flats so she’s not thrilled about walking, but Leon brings out Charizard, hoists her right up, and the two of them glide over to his house. She coos at Charizard for a little bit to show her gratitude, but then they head inside.

“Hi, Mum! We’re here!” Leon calls out, and is rewarded with a, “Welcome home!” echoing from the kitchen. They immediately head in that direction where they find her there putting the finishing touches on one of her side dishes.

“How’s my big boy doing?” she asks, pulling her eldest in for a hug before reaching out to Sonia. “And Sonia! I’m so happy you could come!”

Sonia happily steps into the hug. “Hi, Mrs. Terrene. Delighted.”

“Always with the Mrs. Terrene,” she clicks her tongue. “Darling, you’ve long since earned the right to call me Jasmine.”

“I’ll try to remember,” she replies, same as always. “What can we help with?”

“Well, I’ll need someone to manage the grill after folks arrive. Otherwise, if you could help me with the rest of this,” and she gestures to other things in the kitchen, “I’d be chuffed. Oh, let me get you an apron. You look so fancy today! This is just a barbecue, you know.”

“We just came from a trip,” Leon says, tying up his own hair as Sonia puts on the proffered apron.

“Oh?”

“Took a train ride over Galar and just got back. Real lovely.”

“Was it for work?”

He hesitates for a split second before saying, “No, Sonia and I are dating.”

She sighs. “I suppose I owe Anise 20 pokedollars now.”

That’s a non-sequitur. “What?” Leon asks.

“I made a bet that you two wouldn’t go out until after the Gym Challenge started.”

“Mum!”

“What? You’re always so busy and terribly distracted, I thought it was an easy win.”

Sonia is covering her mouth and doubled over behind the kitchen table. Laughing in her boyfriend’s face is probably not a good idea, especially with his mum in the room. But the blush he’s got is well worth the show, and eventually Jasmine separates them to start prepping the house for guests. He sets up some foldable tables and chairs outside – April is finally starting to warm up, and Raihan’s apparently bringing his Torkoal to keep the weather pleasant – while Sonia pins up some streamers and decorations around the house to give it a festive energy.

The first one to arrive is Hop – with Gloria and her mum Felicia in tow bringing a few wrapped presents. Sonia immediately takes the incubator alarm from him, though he assures her that the weekend was pretty uneventful, and he’s already taken care of the babies from Saturday and Sunday.

“So how was the date?” Gloria asks with a grin that is just too knowing for anyone’s well-being. Fortunately, they’re standing off to the side while everyone else is occupied.

“It was lovely. I’d tell you more, but we’re really here to celebrate Hop, so we can chat later.”

“Should I ask, then, when everyone else gets here then?”

Sonia folds under the pressure. “We had an amazing time, Leon bought things for his flat, and we did things that I don’t think I should talk about with his younger brother’s paramour.”

“Hah! I knew it!” she says with a little pump of her fist, unseen by anyone around them. “I hope it was good. You’re walking in high heels without a limp, so it couldn’t have been _that_ good.”

“Glo, I’m going to toss you into the loo if you keep letting shite fall from your mouth.”

“Try me.”

Jasmine politely interrupts the two women to give them new jobs; Gloria is put on doorbell duty while Sonia starts putting out snacks and appetizers in the living room. Her parents are the next to arrive, carrying some homemade brew, and then Raihan and Nessa are hot on their heels, and then things start to get lively.

Given Hop’s connection to Leon along with his relationship to the Gym Leaders, this party ends up being a bit of a do among the elite Trainers of Galar. All the Gym Leaders are invited; even Bede, who looks impressively put upon, but even he plays nice with everyone and manages to have a rousing conversation with Gloria about a new Mawile he’s thinking of adding to his roster. Piers makes it, too, having just come off the touring circuit, and he spends a bit of time talking with Marnie and Hop. There are some family friends from both Postwick and Wedgehurst who’ve come, too, and they dote over Hop with an auntie’s lack of self-restraint. Kabu ends up bringing his Torkoal, too, so the weather is warm enough for people to spill into the yard. Orrin and Sonia end up manning the grill, and she makes sure everyone is fed and happy.

And, of course, after a few drinks get into everyone, there are a whole slew of casual Pokémon battles. Leon had been tossing around the idea of setting up a two-on-two tournament, though his limiting factor was funding, and Gloria grabs onto it with both hands and runs. She immediately pairs up with Hop, and the two of them take on Bede and Marnie in a ’15 Challengers battle as Leon takes the role of referee. Since no one’s playing for keeps, the battle is decided by stealing feathers from the other team. Hatterene manages to make the first grab, snatching a feather from Cinderace’s belt when it is distracted by Grimmsnarl’s attack, but Rillaboom grabs Grimmsnarl’s feather from its hand when it attempts – and misses – a Play Rough.

“Come on, Hop, you can do it!” Gloria cheers.

“Can’t miss with you in my court!” he says with a grin.

“I know you’ve got it,” Marnie says to Bede.

“Of course,” he replies with certainty, and the two young men face off at each other, and Sonia smiles to herself as she sees Gordie making a bet with Raihan and wonders who supports who.

The two Pokémon move at the same time, and Hatterene’s Psychic hit pulls the feather off Rillaboom’s hair-vines while a Knock Off snaps the feather out of Hatterene’s cap-fingers. There’s a little bit of a dust-up, but once it settles neither Pokémon is holding a feather.

Leon holds up an official hand. “I declare this battle – a tie!”

Everyone groans in disappointment, but then Raihan immediately jumps forward. “All right, I’m next. Come on, Hop, I want to battle with the man of the hour.”

Now everyone’s clamoring for a chance to double battle, and Hop switches to Dubwool when Duraludon comes out, and Sonia decides that she’s not in much of a battling mood so she heads inside for a drink and a break from the boisterous energy.

“Sonia, sweetheart, come sit with us,” Anise says, gesturing to herself, Felicia, Jasmine, and a couple other women from the neighborhood. They’re all sipping on a glass of wine – courtesy of Milo, who apparently knows the owner of a good vineyard – and Sonia drops down with them. “You look so nice today, and so does Leon.”

_Ah, yes, here we go._ “We went on a date just before coming here.”

“Praise Arceus,” one woman – Mrs. Fearn – says. “Leon’s a dear boy, but he was never very observant, was he?”

“How did it happen?” Jasmine asks, then adds, “If you don’t mind.”

“No, I don’t mind. I’ve been working on the Dynamax problem that Gran left behind – just getting more data and the like – and he came to help me a few times. We started talking and next thing I know…,” and she trails off, letting them make their own assumptions.

“You two were peas in a pod as children, and I’m so happy that you’ve made up,” Jasmine says with obvious affection for both.

“Maybe a bit more than that,” Felicia grins, and Sonia completely understands where Gloria gets her penchant for sneaky insinuations from. “So was this your first date?”

“Yes.”

“Where did you go?”

She explains the Green Palace and the region-wide trip they took, and all the women shower him with praise for such a thoughtful experience. She leaves out the details that they don’t need but gives them plenty to swoon on. When Leon himself walks into the kitchen a little while later and catches her eye, all the women turn their heads to him and he freezes in place.

“Lee! Come sit with your old mum for a tick,” Jasmine says, and he gives Sonia look of faintly-concealed panic before sitting on the arm of her sofa. “I heard you took Sonia on a wonderful date.”

“Ah, yeah,” he says, and for a moment she can see a nervous sixteen-year-old version of himself calling to ask her about "girl things". “First one, actually.”

“More to come, perhaps?” she teases him.

“Hopefully. If she’ll have me,” he says with a shrug, and now Sonia’s the one in the hot seat, her face flaming up as she tries to hide behind her wine glass.

“Well, I am just tickled pink to hear about it,” Anise says. “You should come for dinner one night.”

“I’d be chuffed, Mrs. Magnolia.”

“Too bad we can’t get Hop to do the same,” Felicia says with a sigh. “Your brother is the dearest boy in the world, but by Giratina’s wings he has been so hard to pin down.”

“Prepping for Poké-Med school,” Sonia says to help cover him, but Felicia’s having none of it.

“Oh, we know. But he and Gloria were just like you and Leon, and I’d hate to see them fall apart the way you two did. Even if he has to leave for a bit, it doesn’t mean he’s gone forever, and having a few home-cooked meals is always good for the soul.”

Sonia doesn’t have a good answer, and Leon wisely keeps his mouth shut. Jasmine comments, “I could hardly claim to read my baby’s mind, but keep at it. He’s got a soft spot for Gloria.”

“Even a Nincada could see that.”

The conversation flows around as they continue to talk about other young couples – some dating, some engaged, and some recently wed – and Sonia carefully extricates herself to get some snacks from the kitchen. Leon follows a moment later.

“Well, that was terrifying,” he says, coming up behind her and resting his hand on her back.

“You’ve not been the center of attention like that before?”

“I haven’t been to many parties here,” he admits, a minor chord in his voice. “Most people in Wyndon don’t ask questions like that, since I don’t tend to parade my relationships around, nor do I indulge the paparazzi.”

“Thank you for indulging your mum. And mine. I really had hoped to keep this secret, but I doubt that’ll keep.”

“I’d have liked that too,” she sighs. “I’m not in a mood to fend off the tabloids, not with the Challenge starting soon.”

“We can still be hush-hush. For what it’s worth.”

“Suppose we’ll find out.”

Footsteps warn them of someone coming, and Jasmine smiles benignly at them. “Would you be a dear and let Hop know he has a few presents that need attention? Sherri and West need to leave soon, so we should have him open it up.”

“I’ve got it,” Leon says, patting her back a final time before heading outside. A few minutes later and everyone’s shoved into the front room and Hop is the embarrassed but delighted center of attention.

_I suppose this never happens,_ she thinks, looking at Leon in the background by his mum. _Constantly in the shadow of someone bigger, brighter, better. I feel you, Hop, and I’m glad this day is yours._

He is showered with generous gifts, ranging from a new laptop from Leon to a newly developed incense from Nessa said to increase concentration to a pair of high-end noise-cancelling headphones from Piers. Hop is bowled over with gratitude, and there’s no doubt that he is genuinely grateful to everyone.

Sonia is particularly pleased when he nearly passes out with excitement upon seeing the Oshawott she’s gifted him. Turns out, he’s been carrying the Tepig around and he brings both Pokémon out to dash around the room and bask in attention from the willing Trainers.

“Now you’ll fit right into Unova,” Melony says cheerfully.

“You’ve been working this one hard,” Kabu notes as he scratches Tepig’s back. “I can see how much fire it’s got. Well done.”

“Make sure to keep giving your Oshawott some hard berries to crack on a daily basis,” Nessa advises. “Otherwise, the scalchop might weaken from disuse.”

“I’ve got one,” Gordie says, pulling a babiri berry from his pocket, and the Oshawott gleefully snatches it from his fingers before hiding behind the couch.

Finally, all the gifts have been opened, the cake and tea has been served, and it’s time for people to head home. Gym Leaders from farther away head off first, and the numbers dwindle down until it’s just Leon, Sonia, Hop, Gloria, and Jasmine left. They help with clean-up, but Jasmine tells them not to worry too much about the remaining mess. She’ll have something to do in the morning after they’re all gone. They properly ignore her and clean everything that’s a priority.

“Thanks for the party, Mum,” Hop says with a still-lively grin. Gloria is leaning next to him, a soft, almost dreamy smile on her face. “It was ace.”

“We’re all quite proud of you,” Sonia says firmly from her place beside Leon.

“Really. My brother, the next Professor of Galar,” he says, bleeding sincerity and making Hop squirm. “What’s on the agenda for tomorrow?”

“I’m in Hulbury, working on their database. See, I’ve finally figured out the flow. All I need-”

And suddenly the lights in the room go out, the background hum of electricity dies, and shocked silence falls over them like a blanket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (03/31/21): Congrats, Hop! Get out of Dodge while the getting is good!
> 
> So we're going to start turning away from the romance and getting back into the action/adventure component. You may notice that I've listed how many chapters are left (give or take a few), but it will be a while before we're completely done. There is a lot to do, and so little time to do it.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who's come by to read! 🥰


	17. New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Leon is no longer the Champion and things are changing for the younger generation, perhaps the future will shift in a direction that Sonia has never expected. Initially written to be a one-shot introspective piece on Sonia's complicated relationship with Leon that has since spiraled out of my control.
> 
> Chapter 17: And then… it’s one day before the lab opens up to the new Trainers, and Sonia’s almost throwing herself around trying to get things in order.
> 
> 47 Challengers. She has one day to get them all their Pokémon. Oh man oh man oh man oh man!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to DezyPhresh for all her beta efforts.

The first thing Sonia thinks is, _is there a storm coming_? But there’s no rain falling outside, there’s no inclement weather at all, and Leon stands up. “I’ll check the fuse box,” he says, pulling out his Rotom and turning on the torch. He disappears to the garage, but comes back a few minutes later looking concerned.

“What’s wrong?” Jasmine asks.

“Nothing. None of the fuses were blown. But the whole neighborhood’s dark.”

“What do you mean?” Gloria asks.

“Come take a gander,” and everyone scrambles outside.

The evening is comfortable, with the ground still radiating a little bit of the heat from this afternoon, but the whole of Postwick and Wedgehurst – what Sonia can see of it – seems to be dark.

Gloria whips out her Rotom. “Call Mum.” A few seconds later, and Felicia answers on speaker.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Mum, are you all right?”

“I’m fine, darling, but what’s going on?”

“Power’s out across the whole town,” Hop answers.

“Strange, isn’t it? There weren’t any Legendary Pokémon around, were there?”

Sonia checks her Rotom and the Power Spot Detector app; nothing unusual, which means that whatever caused this isn’t due to a Pokémon... which is not good because she doesn’t have an easy answer. “Not that I can see.”

But something about it catches her eye, and she back-tracks across the screen. “Wait a tick,” she says, then scrolls through the detection. “Huh. That’s odd.”

“What?” everyone asks.

“There was a teeny blip right here,” she says, pointing to a faint rise in energy that falls almost too quickly to be seen. She expands the touchscreen and catches the time. “8:22 PM.”

“That’s just three minutes ago,” Gloria says. “So the Power Spot Detector caught something.”

“I think so, but I have no idea what it means,” she says. “Normally, Dynamaxed Pokémon will send the levels up for an extended amount of time – the duration of a Dynamax. And Legendaries will also have a sustained level.”

“So a blip means someone Dynamaxed, then stopped?” Gloria asks.

“I don’t know. And it’s so small… it could be a false reading. Or maybe something happened far away from the Reader? In Motostoke?” she thinks aloud. “Could it reach even as far as Wyndon?”

“Then, me and Charizard are going for a ride,” Leon says, tossing the pokéball, and the two of them are airborne before anyone can disagree.

“I’m heading over to the Slumbering Weald,” Hop says, pulling out Zamazenta. “Last time we had a kerfuffle like this, it was thanks to the two royal wankers. I’ll make sure nothing’s gone pear-shaped there.”

He gets on Zamazenta’s back – with the Hero bending down to allow a mount – and heads towards the forest, easily bounding over the gate and disappearing into the fog.

Gloria says into the phone, “Give me a ring if you hear anything else.”

“Of course, darling,” Felicia says, then hangs up. Gloria looks at Sonia.

“What do you think?”

“I think if this isn’t limited to just the southern Galarian region, then there’s a big problem.”

“You ring up Raihan, I’ll take Kabu.”

She does so, and he does not sound happy. “Hello?”

“It’s me, Sonia. Postwick’s caught in a blackout and-”

He lets out a sharp breath. “Fucking hell, it’s there, too?”

“What’s going on?”

“Don’t know. I’m not in Hammerlocke yet, but I was riding Flygon when all the lights below went black. Whatever happened, it’s not just by you. Piers just gave me a ring; him and Marnie are trapped on the train to Spikemuth. They’re fine, but they’re not moving until it gets back up and running.”

“Leon’s circling the area, Hop went into the Weald, and Gloria,” and Sonia glances at Gloria, who’s got a grim look before giving Sonia a shake of her head, “is talking with Kabu. Doesn’t sound good there, either.”

“What’s your take?”

“My Power Spot Detector had a blip, which could mean something, or nothing. I’d need my full-sized Detector in the lab to get more information, but if the power’s down then it’s not going to work. Otherwise, I don’t know what could cause a massive blackout like this except maybe Eternatus. But Gloria’s patting her hip, so I know she’s got it with her.”

“Well, that’s a bit of a relief. At least it’s not the Particle-eating dragon on a rampage again,” he says. “I’m about ten minutes away from home. If something is happening in Hammerlocke, I’ll call you back. Otherwise, we’ll just talk next Wednesday.”

“I’ll take silence to mean that it was a benign cause. Take care, Rai.”

“You too.”

Gloria’s now on the phone with Wyndon – one of the Pokémon League staff employees – and it’s evident that the blackout is literally a regional event. Her and Jasmine listen, and soon enough both Hop and Leon make it back.

“Anything?” she asks the brothers.

“The Weald is quiet, and so’s the burial plot,” Hop says, still sitting on Zamazenta with a deep furrow in his brow.

“As far as the eye can see, the lights are down,” Leon says, sliding off Charizard’s back as he gestures north. “I’m not good with directions, but even I know that you should be able to see the city that way. Nothing.”

Gloria hangs up. “Wyndon’s down too.”

“What the hell could cause a blackout over all of Galar?” Hop asks.

“Not Eternatus, at least not this time,” Gloria says, pointing to her pokéball.

“Don’t think it’s a rogue Dynamax or Legendary Pokémon, but I wouldn’t put a bet on it,” Sonia comments.

“Which really only leaves the Energy Plant,” Hop says slowly.

“Raihan’s heading home now, he’ll let us know if something happened there,” Sonia adds.

“Could also be caused by something happened with Macro Cosmos,” Leon says. “If there’s been a problem with distribution of ener-”

And then the lights come back on. The streetlights slowly blink into life, the hum of the heating/AC unit outside the house starts to putter on, and Wedgehurst is back to its normal self with a few seconds. At Hop’s request, Zamazenta jumps into the air – which means it reaches a height greater than a three-story building – and when they land, he says, “Looks like Motostoke’s back up, too.”

Sonia immediately calls Raihan. Oddly enough, he doesn’t answer. “Huh,” she says, staring at the phone.

“Maybe he’s on the other line?” Hop asks.

“Maybe.”

Gloria hangs up her Rotom. “Looks like Wyndon’s back up and running. I’d bet my cape that the whole region’s alit again.”

“You’d win that bet, I believe,” Leon says, then lets out a deep sigh. “I’m afraid I better head home. I don’t generally make it a point to work on weekends anymore, but-”

“But if something this drastic happened with MC, you have to take care of it,” Sonia says firmly.

“Right as rain,” he says. He gives his mum a hug and kiss, then a fist-bump to his brother. “I’ll see you later, Hop. Congrats, again.”

“Thanks, Lee.”

To Sonia, he gives her a hug and a respectable kiss on the cheek. “I’m sorry, truly.”

“No, it’s all right. I had you for two days, and you have to do what you must,” she says, though she doesn’t pretend there’s no twinge of pain for the loss of the night they were going to share. “Text me when you’re home.”

He gets back on Charizard, and the duo make their way to Wyndon. Hop is staying the night in Postwick so he can pack up his presents, but Gloria’s got to go, too. A hug to Sonia, Jasmine, and a peck on the lips for Hop, then she’s riding Zacian back north as it flies like a star over the terrain.

“You’re welcome to stay the night, too,” Jasmine tells Sonia. “I know it’s not far, but if you don’t want to head out after all this excitement, you can take Lee’s room.”

The offer is appealing, if only because Sonia doesn’t really want to walk home in high-heels and she’s a bit knackered after everything that’s happened in the last 48 hours. Jasmine ends up ushering her in and opening up Leon’s room for her use. She’s been in here before, the walls covered with a mix of snapbacks, books, and trophies, and it’s a funny kind of familiar. The kind that tickles a memory that’s close but so far away. Her phone pings with a text from Leon – **Im home will see mc soon** – and with her mind set at ease she doesn’t bother to do more than shrug out of her clothes, toss on one of his old T-shirts in a drawer, and fall asleep in the bed that smells like him.

* * *

She wakes up early the next morning, steals a cuppa from Jasmine, and calls down a Taxi to take her home. A text from Leon around midnight saying that there wasn’t anything wrong, but he’s in conversations with the MC Energy division to make sure this won’t be repeated again.

There’s also a text from Raihan, oddly enough.

Raihan:** Sorry I didn’t answer last night, was too busy at the Energy Plant**

Raihan:** Long story short, turns out one of the converters went sideways **

Raihan:** Engineers fixed it, lights are back**

Raihan:** Talk later **

Well, there’s their answer. So the blip on her Power Spot Detector was probably from the Energy Plant, and since her Detector is able to reach all the way up to Wyndon, it would make sense that it’d catch a faint hint of problems in Hammerlocke.

With that mystery solved, Sonia is able to focus on the Gym Challenge and head over to the lab after a shower. Today’s the last day for registration, and there are fifteen applications already waiting from over the weekend. Now she’s up to 46 challengers.

She goes about the rest of her day puttering around, taking care of the new hatchlings, and keeping count of the partner Pokémon required. To her surprise, only one person sends his application on Monday. _Someone’s cutting it close._ But that pulls her final count up to 47, and now she can get down to business. When the magic 12PM hits, she has an automatic e-mail sent out to all the Gyms, the Battle Tower, and everyone who is associated in some way, shape, or form to the Challenge stating that registration is over, and they should begin restricting their attention to only League-approved Challengers.

She sends a second mass e-mail to all the sponsored Trainers, congratulating them on their acceptance into the Challenge, and sends them a few attachments. One is a loose outline for next Monday, explaining the flow that is to be expected and that a more detailed agenda would be arriving later in the week, along with a calendar of each Gym’s schedule for accepting challenges. A second document includes a list of items that are suggested for travel, including camping gear and proper clothing for the weather, and a link to a website that sells discounted gently used gear to Trainers who can’t afford to pay out the nose for new things. A final attachment includes the rules outlined for the Challenge. Since all of these are new Trainers, they are given a thorough explanation on proper behavior and some of the more esoteric rules of the Challenge. This includes the rule that while a Dynamax Band is nice to have, it is _not_ provided by the League. It may be borrowed or crafted by Professor Magnolia if someone finds a Wishing Star, but if you don’t have one – tough nuts. Fight like a Spikemuth.

She sends a third e-mail to a dozen people who previously failed a Gym Challenge that re-applied for a second – and final – attempt. One of the decisions that Gloria put down relatively early in her career was a new rule that Challengers could not repeat the Gym Challenge _ad nauseum_. Instead, they could take their same team and try again at the Gym they previously failed rather than starting from scratch, but if they failed even once in any of the remaining Gym Battles, then they were permanently restricted from ever attempting the Challenge again.

There were a massive fuck-ton of people who balked at that, though all of the Gym Leaders had been relieved by this new rule since it started to cut down on the number of challenges during the season while also providing battles from Trainers who were more motivated to win. Trainers were so concerned with losing that they were more thoroughly training their Pokémon, and those that failed often went to the Battle Tower – which thrilled Leon to no end.

An Eevee pushes its head against her elbow as she’s finishing up the last e-mail, and once she’s done she picks it up and gives it a good scratching under the chin.

“Well, now, let’s see what this year brings.”

* * *

The rest of the week moves in a bit of a blur, as she’s got more Pokémon hatching every day and sleeping far less than she prefers. She does make it a point to call Raihan on his birthday, and when she tells him to check his mail, he’s elated to see that she sent him a book about the Tao Trio from Unova that she bought while her and Leon were in Motostoke, and had specifically requested it arrive on his birthday. The warmth in his voice makes her think that the rents in their friendship have now been mended, and she’s glad for it.

And then… it’s one day before the lab opens up to the new Trainers, and Sonia’s almost throwing herself around trying to get things in order.

47 Challengers. She has one day to get them all their Pokémon. _Oh man oh man oh man oh man!_

_All right, focus. 2 arrive every 20 minutes. That’s 6 every hour. That will be all of them in 8 hours. Since I have them come by starting at 8AM, I should be done by 4PM. But do I want lunch? Maybe I’ll just skip it._

Because while she may have planned out only 20 minutes per Trainer, that’s not what is really going to happen. Someone will be late, or not show up, or one of a hundred things. Not that she doesn’t predict it in a general sense. In an email she sent two days ago, she gave each newbie a specific “Adoption” time along she with multiple rules/warnings for the adoption process.

1 – Arrive on time. Preferably 5 minutes early.

2 – Anyone who arrives more than 5 minutes late to their appointment will wait until the next 20-minute slot to get their Pokémon.

2a – If the person who is next in line is present/on time, they will get the appointment slot.

3 – There will be absolutely no whining or threatening of the Professor if you do not get the Pokémon you wanted. Take it up with the Champion when you get to Wyndon.

4 – Any behavior deemed inappropriate may result in being removed from the Gym Challenge at the discretion of the Professor.

4a – If you are removed from the Gym Challenge, you may take it up with your sponsor, the Champion, and Professor Magnolia once they have had a discussion regarding the removal.

5 – You are allowed to bring one pre-gifted Pokémon prior to the adoption process, but it must be ranked below Level 9.

So she does everything she can to limit the number of hiccups that take place. And since she’s the Professor and the person handing out Pokémon, there are very, _very_ few Trainers who are willing to be badly behaved in front of her. And on the rare occasions when she actually has removed someone from the Challenge before they even got started, neither the sponsors nor Gloria had disagreed with the action. Hell, her Gran had been famous for making someone cry at least once a season when they came to visit, so it was presented as no surprise when she got a little more hard-arsed than usual.

But going without eating all day? That’ll really put her in a mood. Well, that’s what protein bars are for. There’s just no point scheduling a lunch for herself when she’d just work through it anyway.

The good thing is that the two special needs Trainers come by on Sunday instead of Monday. It gives them an extra day to bond, for Sonia to adjust their Rotoms, and for her to answer any questions they might have. Both teens are lucky as all get-out; Kabu had been willing to breed his Motostoke Gym Arcanine to provide a Growlithe for Angus, while Bede had a Ralts he’d rescued that Monica could adopt.

Both kids are ecstatic, and they bond to their Pokémon like they’d always been together. Yeah, it takes an hour for each kid because of _details_, but so what? She sends each of them on their way and feels phenomenal because they actually appreciate the hard work, and she really looks forward to seeing how well they do.

So that cuts her numbers down to 45 and she’s got a little leeway, but without Hop she knows this is going to be a brutal day. After the two teens leave, she sets out the remaining Pokémon in groups with placards listing their names so that the pokéballs don’t have to be opened. The “starter” trio over in this section, batches of Eevee and Pikachu on her desk, and the remaining unusual types are lined up around the edge of her dining table with a second fold-out table holding some of the spillovers. Everything looks clean and ready.

When she goes to bed that night, she’s just as excited as she was the day that she got Yamper, and thrilled that she can be the person giving them that same experience.

* * *

Her morning starts at the arse-crack of dawn, and she’s at the lab carrying a purchased mug of coffee instead of tea and wearing her glasses because her eyes are so tired, but damned if she isn’t prepared for the onslaught. She turns on the lights and does all her morning chores to open up the rest of the day.

_It’s going to be a good year. It’s going to be a great year! I can feel it!_

It’s 7:30 and already she hears voices murmuring outside. A quick peek and she sees that a handful of teens are standing there waiting for their turn. They’re all wearing casual clothes, carrying their packs, and looking like they’re about to jump out of their skin. Some are chatting with one another while others are standing aloof and silent. _Well, there will be all sorts, won’t there?_

All of the new Trainers are required to spend the night in Wedgehurst’s only hotel – Hotel Lydia, with their overnight stay compensated for, courtesy of Macro Cosmos and the Pokémon League – so that there’s practically no distance to travel in the morning and everyone can start at the same place in order to keep the training as equivalent as reasonably possible. Hence why Sonia can afford to be so particular about them arriving on time; it’s not like they have anything more strenuous than a ten-minute walk down the street.

But at 7:50 AM, she opens the door carrying her laptop. The voices all stop, and the dozen-ish kids standing there look at her with wide eyes.

_Arceus bless me, they get younger every year, don’t they?_

“Good morning everyone. I’m Professor Magnolia, and grateful to see that you all have arrived safe and well. Everyone here has been given a specific time slot, and I will call your name when I’m ready. To refresh your memories, I expect everyone to be on their best behavior, and I’ll tolerate no amount of whining or other such nonsense if you cannot get your first choice as a starter. That being said, I do hope that all of you can find what you’re looking for.”

“Yes, I do too.”

Now their heads whip to the left (Sonia’s right), and Gloria is walking towards them, wearing her cape as it flows in the wind and her hair put up into the double braids with gold chains woven through them so she’s got a literal crown on her head, and the awe that she inspires in every teen standing there is undeniable. Even Sonia herself can’t help but be put in her place as she sees the kind of figure one of her closest friends’ cuts. Gloria comes by every year to visit and this year is no exception; it bolsters Sonia’s spirit to have her there.

“Good morning, Champion,” she starts out, offering a professional smile.

“And to you as well, Professor,” she says with a matching grin; not completely unrestrained, but showing a little bit more of a twinkle than one would expect. “Are you ready to begin?”

“I am if you are.”

“Excellent.”

“Then, if Jordan and Robert could follow me in?”

She closes the door after the two lads, and hides a smile as she hears the voices start buzzing excitedly from the other side of the lab.

Gloria can’t visit for more than a few hours, given her duties as Champion, but the fact that she carves this much time out of her day to do this is worth gold to Sonia. Leon hadn’t been able to do this when he was Champion – excepting, of course, Gloria and Hop – but Gloria makes it a point of pride that she starts the season “where all things begin”.

So despite the fact that there are so many choices at the beginning, which is why it can take so long, both are fast. While Sonia installs the Rotoms into their phones, each makes a choice.

“Wonderful, you two. They look quite strong,” Gloria says warmly, praising their Pokémon as Sonia scans their information into the database. “Be sure to spend some time with your new partners, and really build up that trust. I look forward to seeing you in the Championships.”

And so it goes. Two kids come in, hand off their phones to Sonia while Gloria walks them through the process, and then they take off like a shot to go spend time in Wedgehurst or the Wild Area with their new partners, whichever they prefer. It takes her only a minute to “refill” the pokéballs in each section, and when they are completely cleared she removed the placard. After Gloria heads to work just before lunch, Sonia takes over the narrative part and wishes she had an extra set of hands to help.

But just before the 1PM kids are to be invited in, there’s a commotion outside. For a moment, Sonia’s heart stops and she wonders _is there something wrong? Did something happen with Eternatus?_ before stepping outside.

Leon is standing there in his famous Charizard pose, and one of the Challengers is standing with him in the same pose as they get their picture taken. Sonia literally has to shove a hand over her mouth and turn a laugh into a cough because _he’s just so dramatic!_ But the kids look like they’ve had their spirits boosted despite being in the second half of the selection.

When he comes out of it, he sees Sonia and gives her a wide grin. “Hi, Professor! Thought I’d come by to help!”

“Oh, did you now?” she asks politely, though the smile on her face is a dead giveaway that she’s happy to see him too.

“Of course! I heard that pre-Professor Hop is busy, so I hope I’ll be a good substitute.”

One of the kids breathes, “Wow. Champion Leon is going to watch me pick my partner.”

“If I had more time, I’d be really fired to up to watch a battle, but that’ll have to wait for another time. So who’s next, Professor?”

“Ines and Daniella.”

“Then come on in!”

He’s so entertaining that it actually takes longer for the kids to pick even though there are fewer choices, but damn if he doesn’t completely sell each Pokémon as being ‘The Most Amazing Partner EVER’. Even when they get to the last newbie, a young man named Grant whose only choices are a Cutiefly and a Caterpie, he’s nothing but enthused.

“Mr. Leon, I’m not sure which one to pick,” he admits.

“Well, what are you looking for?”

“I, uhm, I always heard that Champion Gloria likes to use a Cinderace in her battles…,” and when it is clear that Leon is actually listening to him, he says, “so I was hoping to have a Type advantage to start with. It’s not really possible with Bug against Fire, is it?”

Leon rubs his chin. “Well, that’s a bit of thinking ahead, isn’t it?”

Grant’s cheeks flush pink and he murmurs something gracious. He looks older than the other Challengers by a handful of years; perhaps he put it off for a dozen-plus reasons and is now deciding to give it a go. Not unusual, really, but Gloria herself had sponsored him (the last applicant of the year) and Sonia trusts her friend’s eye.

Leon gives him a knowing grin. “But you’re aiming to be the next Champion, correct? So perhaps you should look for a way to reach that goal and work around the limitations you’ve got.”

That gives Grant a moment’s pause, and he looks between the two pokéballs before asking, “Caterpie ultimately evolves into Butterfree, but I don’t know what Cutiefly evolves into.”

“Ribombee. It’s a Bug/Fairy Type.”

Now Grant’s face lights up. “Oh! I think I can work with that.”

“I think you’re right,” Leon says, patting the young man on the shoulder. “She might even have a Hidden Ability, so you better work extra hard if you want her to be the best she can be.”

“Absolutely, sir! Thanks, Professor!” and he’s out of the lab, clutching the pokéball in his hand like it’s made of gold, and Sonia just feels this wave of relief and exhaustion run right through her. She collapses into one of her chairs and lays her head on the table.

“And it’s done, for one more year,” she breaths, mostly to herself, but she hears the scraping of a chair nearby and hums as she feels Leon’s hand stroke her back.

“Very well done, I’d say. A shame I missed Henrik,” he says, referring to his sponsored Challenger.

“He was one of the first ten.”

“Are you hatching any more eggs?”

“No, anything that didn’t hatch Saturday or Sunday got put into the Storage System for next year’s round,” she says, gesturing to the empty incubator without looking up. “You want one?”

A chuckle. “No, thank you. I’ve got my hands plenty full.”

“Don’t I know it,” she mutters.

“What are you up to the rest of the day?”

_“Sleeping!_”

He lets out a belly laugh. “All right, hint taken. Would you like me to take you home?”

“Yes!” she says whole-heartedly, though she makes him wait while she sends off an email to the Gym Leaders, letting them know that the day went off with minimal problems and all their sponsored kids got their Pokémon. He walks and talks her back home, and even though she thinks she’d be up for a long night with him, he stays around long enough to share some dinner before giving her a steamy goodnight kiss and heading back up to Wyndon.

She doesn’t bother to set an alarm for the morning, and falls into the most peaceful sleep she’s had in a few weeks.

* * *

Sonia treats herself by taking the day off from lab work on Tuesday. To be fair, there’s very little going on, and if there’s a Pokémon emergency then someone can always ring her up. She sleeps in that morning, doesn’t bother to shower all day, lounges around the house, and goes to bed at 8:30 that night after a very unhealthy dinner of fried food curry and ice cream.

She sleeps well, and she’s grateful that when she wakes up she feels relatively rested, given the pressing event that she must attend. She showers, grabs her bag and laptop, and hails down a Taxi.

For the Monthly Leadership Meeting, the Gym Leaders rotate through all of the cities in order to prevent the burden of hosting to land on only one person; this month’s is being hosted in Stow-on-side, which is a pain in the arse for Sonia to get to, but it’s a pain for her to get literally anywhere except Motostoke so she just sucks it up like a big girl. It’s very uncommon that she joins their discussions since most of the time it’s about the political and financial aspects of running a Gym, but she quite specifically requested a chance to speak with everyone. The meetings are generally two-plus hours long, which is going to be quite an endurance test, but she’s got no choice. It’s time that all the Gym Leaders are up to speed on the discovery that she and Gardevoir made.

Running through this again is going to be a joy.

Sonia travels alone, which gives her time to run through her talk along though it does nothing to calm her nerves. When she lands, she sees Marnie coming out from her own Taxi.

“Hi, Marnie! How’s it?”

“A’ight,” she shrugs, as low-key as ever. “Been preparin’ for the Challenge. Lookin’ forward to some good fights.”

“How’s your Scrafty? Heard she hasn’t been quite right since last year’s season ended.”

“I’m retirin’ her this year. But I got a Pangoro that’s itchin’ to test itself, so that’s somethin’.”

Marnie doesn’t carry a conversation very well, and Sonia’s still recovering from the last two weeks of inconsistent sleep, so she lets a quiet fall between them as they make their way into the Stow-on-Side’s Stadium. One of Allister’s Trainers lets them through, and the duo head towards the conference room where some delightful smells are wafting from.

“Smells… Amazoran,” Sonia muses to herself.

“Or Ispali,” Marnie says, surprising Sonia.

“You know Ispali food?”

“Team Yell blokes like to try new food to scare each other. Ispali was pretty well liked, so I buy it now and then.”

That’s an insight into the Spikemuth Gym that Sonia hadn’t expected to get that morning, but she appreciates the quirkiness all the same. When they enter the room, she is delighted to see that she’s right. Sitting atop of the desktop running against one wall is a generous spread of Amazoran dishes that include make-your-own-tlachos with a variety of ingredients, freshly grilled corn on the cob, a soup, flavored rice, and a sweet chocolate dessert on the side. There’s a cold coconut drink in a large beverage dispenser, and Sonia helps herself to a nice, refreshing glass.

“This looks ace!” Sonia says to Bea.

“Allister was complaining that we always do Bob’s, so I let him pick this time.”

“Generous big sister, aren’t you?”

Bea flushes a little as she fiddles with the projector and finally gets it plugged in, muttering all the while about taking care of little siblings and trying new things.

Sonia and Marnie aren’t the first ones to arrive, but they aren’t the last and are able to get themselves some good seats away from the screen hanging on the wall. At meetings like this – with almost a dozen people – it was necessary to utilize the projector rather than rely on a single-person screen, which meant that if you weren’t fast enough, you’d be stuck turning around and staring up through the whole talk. Sonia drops herself right next to Melony, and the two of them chat about any and everything that comes to mind while they eat. Mostly romance, though Melony is gracious enough to keep her knowing smiles to a bare minimum.

The last one to arrive is – to no one’s surprise – Leon, but at least he’s not late. Bea starts the meeting at exactly noon, as rigorous as ever, and he barely grabs a plate of food before diving into the remaining chair.

“Good afternoon. Today is the fourth Monthly Leadership Meeting of ’20. Minutes are being recorded by Rotom. I have copies of our agenda for everyone.”

A piece of paper for all the Gym Leaders, and the first thing on the list is Sonia. She actually has two spots – set up the same way she did when she broke this news to the others – and starts out with the most benign discussion.

“The Starter Adoption Day went off very smoothly this year. No one kicked a fuss, no fisticuffs between the newbies; it was as uneventful a day as I could have hoped for.”

She puts up a quick powerpoint chart that shows the first names of the new Trainers along with their chosen starter. The Leaders chat about a few of the kids, pointing out the ones with unique or powerful choices, and then she moves on. She talks about a few other things, but she’s got no interest in talking for the sake of hearing her voice, and lets the subject matter move forward.

Then all the Gym Leaders go in a circle and take ten minutes to talk about their Gyms. Milo mentions that he’s been getting some pushback from his Trainers that it should be about time to reverse the order of the Challenge, which usually happens every ten years or so, but he hadn’t brought it up before because he hadn’t cared about being the first Gym. Nessa mentions that Hulbury Stadium has recently taken damage from an Earthquake caused by a wild Quagsire, and the funds she needs to repair the foundation are drying up despite being only halfway through the year. On and on it goes, and Sonia listens with half an ear. She’s too distracted with the impending nervousness born of repeating her cursed information for a third time.

The one time she really wakes up is when Raihan talks.

“So the power outage from two Sundays ago was from one of the converters in an Energy Tower going down,” he explains, completely no-nonsense. “Not sure why it happened, but I’ve reached out to MC Energy to discuss the option of permanently setting up grids around the region. This way, if something happens in Hammerlocke again, it won’t take down the rest of the country.”

“Why hasn’t anything like this been talked about before?” Kabu asks.

“Because Rose was the previous CEO, and it was never an issue he wanted to deal with,” Leon jumps in. “It’s a shame, because that foresight could have been helpful, but at least no one was injured or killed in the blackout. But Raihan’s comment is somewhat of a misnomer. There _are_ grids set up in the main cities, made up of secondary batteries and power lines, but there hasn’t been any effort made to redirect a portion of the Hammerlocke energy towards them nor building new converters in those counties. It will likely involve increasing the energy bills on all residents for a short time, so I’d been holding off on doing it.”

Bede rolls his eyes. “People arguing over money when they should focus on taking care of the people around them. How unsurprising.”

“Regardless, I put this issue before the MC Board. After this event, they were willing to start redirecting a percentage of Galar particles towards charging the grids, and at some point the grids will be able to function independent of the Energy Plant. The Energy Plant will remain the main power source, but if another incident like this were to occur, it would throw the whole region off again.”

After that discussion plays itself out a bit longer, he’s got nothing. It’s rare to see Raihan so taciturn, but she’s not sitting next to him and just has to let it go. _I hope it has nothing to do with me and Leon_, though she’s fairly certain his concerns are not that petty.

Gloria takes the longest to talk. Not only does she represent Wyndon Stadium, she also represents the Pokémon League itself. She talks about things ranging from creating donation boxes for new Trainers to outreach programs that are being funded to anything else that would interest the other Leaders. Sonia again zones out, trying hard not to fall asleep because she still hasn’t made up the sleep debt, and then Leon talks.

As a member of the Pokémon League board of directors and the owner of the Battle Tower, along with being the current CEO of Macro Cosmos, he brings a lot of backstage information to the table. He mentions international relationships with other regions, discussions about the budget and finances, and other things that absolutely bore Sonia though she keeps her mind on Leon himself. It’s impressive to see him like this; she’s so used to thinking of him as the “Ex-Champion” that it’s easy to forget his background. Once, years ago, he had stopped by the Lab for some info and ended up staying for a quick lunch. They got to talking about work, and he shyly admitted that Rose had essentially “groomed” him to take over the CEO position by paying for his uni and above. The thought of Leon with a master’s degree was almost too astounding to be real, and she never really looked for proof, but he was certainly presenting himself with the kind of poise that she’d expect out of someone running a multi-billion pokédollar monopoly.

But Bea’s voice shocks her from her revere as she says, “Professor? Your turn again.”

She looks at her watch. “Let’s take 10 for a break. Please.”

Everyone glances at each other – most of the time, they’re eager to be in and out of these meetings – but agree nonetheless. By the time they return, Sonia’s got her Rotom connected to the projector.

“I’d like to preface this by saying, I’m sorry.” She pauses. “I’m sure some of you heard that my Gardevoir died a few weeks ago. I’ve been researching into the cause of Darkest Day and went down a Bunnelby hole that I hadn’t expected. Her death was ultimately caused by the energy she put into getting this video for us. I will narrate as we go forth.”

Leon, Raihan, and Gloria know what’s coming. They remain neutral through the video.

Everyone else… does not. The range of expressions from horror to terror to anger is almost painful to see. Probably the worst is Bede, who after watching all this happen and realizing that he was the one who got all the Wishing Stars for Rose’s use, actually fainted from the shock. But Marnie’s quick, and so is Bea, and the two of them catch him on the way down and help him to the floor. A few minutes later, with his legs on the chair and Milo’s finger on Bede’s pulse, he wakes up enough to wave everyone off and refuse to let them call an ambulance. He doesn’t get back in the chair, and instead sits on the floor with his back to the wall and looking pale as death. There’s a lot of talking, and talking over each other.

“So can we further prosecute Rose for murder?”

“Manslaughter, at the best. But this video doesn’t have audio. There’s no way we can prove he planned this out.”

“This is unbelievable. Are there other interpretations?”

“Has anyone spoken to the family members of these scientists?”

“I think we should talk about Eternatus. Perhaps we should put forth a vote to remove it from Galar.”

“Let’s see how well the giant poison-dragon agrees to being pulled away from Gloria. _You_ can talk to it.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to carry it around. What if someone steals it?”

“Forget that! What if it decides to kill Galarians and Pokémon because it’s in a bad mood?”

“It’s in a pokéball. It can’t do _anything_.”

Gloria tries wrangle everyone back into line, but the rest of the meeting is nothing but this. Nothing but the fact that the Rose used Eternatus to murder Macro Cosmos employees, that Eternatus is far more dangerous than any of them would have believed, and there are no good answers for how to defeat it. Sonia decides against bringing up the Galarian Birds now, given how all over the place everyone is, but there will be time to tell them… if it works.

All are sworn to secrecy, because this information getting out will destroy the Pokémon League, and everyone leaves Stow-on-Side far later than they expected, but Sonia’s the last to leave.

Well, second to last.

“Do you want company on the ride home?” Leon asks as he walks outside with her. In comparison to the rest of Galar, Stow-on-Side is almost always warm bordering on hot. It’s kind of nice, considering how rainy Wedgehurst is today, and she just stands outside the doors to absorb the heat.

“No. I’m right as rain. More than everyone else.”

He just shakes his head. Sonia doesn’t blame him for not liking this reality. She doesn’t care for it either.

“I have my stuff, by the way,” she says. “I’m all set to go trekking through the Tundra.”

“I’ll come by tomorrow night, and we’ll take the train together. Sound good?”

“Sounds great.”

They don’t kiss because the day is tainted by the video, but he does squeeze her hand and walk her to the Taxi station. This time, he hops on Charizard as she takes off the Taxi, and they fly in opposite directions with shared anticipation of the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes (04/19/21): A surprisingly busy chapter; time basically flew for Sonia. Ever have a week (or month, or year) like that?
> 
> So this is my interpretation on how Pokemon Adoption prior to the Galar Gym Challenge works. It made sense that all the Challengers would start in Wedgehurst to get their Rotom updated, then go en-masse (sort of) to Motostoke for the Opening Ceremony a week later to start them all at the same "strength". I also give a subtle nod to Hop, who already had Wooloo at the beginning of the game. But yes, this is me taking liberties with what little we know from the game.
> 
> As I said, I'll be bouncing back and forth between the stories as I get chapters completed. I've been bolstered by all the positive energy y'all are sending me and I'm trying to type as fast as possible. Thanks, everyone! 💌


End file.
